The Philippines and Germany yesterday committed to signing a defense cooperation arrangement this year, vowing to stand for the international rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.
German Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius and Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro committed to establishing long-term relations between their armed forces to expand training and bilateral exchanges, explore opportunities to expand bilateral armaments cooperation and engage in joint projects.
The two met in Manila during the first such visit by a German defense minister, as their countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations.
Photo: Reuters
Teodoro said the Philippines, seeking to modernist its military to boost external defense, would be “looking to engage Germany as a possible supplier of these capabilities.”
“These are in the command and control, anti-access aerial denial, maritime domain, aerial domain and in higher technologically capable equipment,” Teodoro told a news conference also attended by Pistorius.
Manila and Berlin are deepening military ties as tensions have flared in the past few months between China and the Philippines, which have traded accusations over run-ins in disputed areas of the South China Sea, including charges the China intentionally rammed Manila’s navy boats seriously injuring a Filipino sailor.
China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, including areas claimed as exclusive economic zones by other nations. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said Beijing’s claims had no legal basis. China rejects that decision.
“This ruling remains valid, without any exceptions,” Pistorius said. “It is our obligation to strengthen the maritime border and we are living up to it.”
The South China Sea is a vital trade route with more than US$3 trillion in ship-borne trade passing through it every year.
Teodoro said the Philippines was not provoking China and did not seek war, but reiterated Manila’s stance that the only cause of conflict in the waterway “is China’s illegal and unilateral attempt to appropriate most if not all of the South China Sea.”
Germany on Friday joined the US-led UN Command in South Korea, becoming the 18th nation in a group that helps police the heavily fortified border with North Korea and has committed to defend the South in the event of a war.
Pistorius said that move was evidence of Berlin’s strong belief that European security is closely linked to security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Germany’s commitments and engagements in the region “are not directed against anybody,” Pistorius said in Manila. “Instead, we are focusing on maintaining rules-based order, securing freedom of navigation and protecting trade routes.”
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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