Lack of U.S.-China talks puts world 'in trouble': Philippine envoy

The Philippines is urging greater dialogue between the U.S. and China to reduce tensions strained by issues such as Taiwan, advanced technology and human rights, Manila's ambassador to the U.S. told Nikkei in a recent interview.

"We want to see more dialogue or a more open line of communication between China and the United States," Jose Manuel Romualdez said. "That will give us some form of peace of mind."

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Vienna last week for eight hours of talks. The meeting was the highest-level engagement between the two major powers since an American fighter jet shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon in February.

Romualdez, a close foreign policy adviser to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., hailed the meeting as a "good sign" but hopes more talks take place.

"If you don't have that kind of communication, then we are all in trouble. The world is in trouble," he said.

Romualdez's comments reflect growing concern in Southeast Asia that a lack of U.S.-China engagement will escalate tensions in the region and raise the odds of a military confrontation.

A possible meeting between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu in Singapore on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in early June is attracting particular attention. American sanctions imposed on Li in 2018 have made China reluctant to hold the talks, a source familiar with the matter said.

As for the South China Sea, Romualdez hopes joint maritime patrols with the U.S. begin by "the third quarter of this year." He does not rule out such operations in the Spratly Islands around Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines often has criticized potentially unsafe maneuvers by Chinese ships.

"I would assume [the patrols] will include everything. I'm hoping that it will be encompassing around our territory," Romualdez said. "The freedom of navigation, which President Marcos has said so many times, is very important, because that has something to do with economic security. So much trade passes through [those waters]."

Romualdez wants the patrols to include Australia and Japan, as Marcos is more willing to work on multilateral security arrangements.

The ambassador said details of the joint operations should be discussed with defense officials "including our other partners in Australia or even Japan," adding that their participation would make joint patrols "a more plausible type of maritime security agreement."

Marcos and President Joe Biden did not discuss U.S. deployment of land-based intermediate range missiles to the Philippine territories during their meeting at the White House this month, Romualdez said.

"There's none," he said, referring to such talks. "That's something that will have to be decided upon by the highest levels in our government and also in the government of the United States."

The U.S. Marine Corps and Army are developing the new capabilities to deter China, and Washington is believed to be searching for host nations in the western Pacific. The missiles were prohibited from being developed until the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the U.S. and Russia expired in 2019.

Anonymous