Philippines Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, spokesman for the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea (the Filipino name for the South China Sea) told the Manila Times in an interview that “talks are underway to regularize warship transits across the Taiwan Strait, a development he hinted could lead to formal joint military activities between the two neighbors and thus reshape the strategic calculus in the region.” This is obviously a declaration of a threat to the Philippine’s far more important “neighbor,” China. As pointed out by EIR’s friend in the Philippines, Ado Paglinawan, in the Asian Century Journal, it is also obvious that this is yet another case of Philippine President Bongbong Marcos allowing Washington to determine its policy: “The ‘policy pronouncement’ proving that we have a puppet government slipped out of the mouth of Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad,” he writes.
Paglinawan adds: “The prospect of Philippine-Taiwan military activities, even if limited to information sharing, patrol coordination, or humanitarian assistance, would most likely be viewed by Beijing as provocative but Trinidad stressed that Philippine defense efforts remain anchored in lawful, transparent actions. ‘We are not looking for a fight, but we are not backing down either. What is ours is ours.’”
Ukraine, Gaza, and Pakistan wars are not enough, it appears—a war with China is a clincher.
