Duterte seeks arms from China, may end maritime patrols with U.S.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (center) raises his fist with Philippine Air Force commanders during the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing anniversary at an air base in the Manila district of Pasay City on Tuesday. | REUTERS
Bloomberg, AP, Staff Report
Sep 14, 2016
MANILA – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he is considering buying weapons from Russia and China and ending joint patrols with U.S. forces in the South China Sea.
In a televised speech Tuesday before military officers in Manila, Duterte said that two countries — which he did not identify — had agreed to give the Philippines a 25-year soft loan to buy military equipment. Later, he said that Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and “technical people” in the armed forces would visit China and Russia “and see what’s best.”
Duterte said he wanted only Philippine territorial waters, up to 12 nautical miles offshore, to be patrolled by Filipino forces, but not other offshore areas that are contested. He added he opposes Filipino forces accompanying foreign powers like the U.S. and China in joint patrols which could entangle the Philippines in hostilities.
“We do not go into a patrol or join any other army from now because I do not want trouble,” Duterte said. “I do not want to ride gung-ho style there with China or with America. I just want to patrol our territorial waters.”
While Duterte said he didn’t want to cut the “umbilical cord” with his allies, the remarks were the latest to signal a shift away from the Philippine-U.S. defense treaty in place since 1951. Since engaging in a public spat with U.S. President Barack Obama last week, Duterte has denounced American military killings during the early days of colonial rule and called for U.S. forces to leave the southern island of Mindanao.
“Duterte seems to be putting into action his latest remarks about trying to implement an independent foreign policy,” said Eduardo Tadem, a lecturer of Asian Studies at the University of the Philippines. “The problem is what’s the quid pro quo? What will the Chinese especially get in exchange?”
Like other security pronouncements, Duterte did not provide details, but his rejection for joint patrols apparently goes against such an arrangement announced in April by the U.S. and the Philippine defense chiefs.
While visiting Manila, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter disclosed for the first time in a news conference with then Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin that U.S. ships had carried out sea patrols with the Philippines in the South China Sea, a somewhat rare move.
Carter insisted that the U.S. did not intend to be provocative and was “trying to tamp down tensions here.” But Gazmin said he expected that U.S. forces, “with their presence here, will deter uncalled-for actions by the Chinese.”
On Tuesday, Duterte said the Philippines needs propeller-driven planes that it can use against insurgents and fight terrorists in Mindanao. He said he wanted to buy arms “where they are cheap and where there are no strings attached and it is transparent.”
“I don’t need jets, F-16 — that’s of no use to us,” Duterte said. “We don’t intend to fight any country.”
Since 1950, the U.S. has accounted for about 75 percent of the Philippines’ arms imports, according to a database from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Russia and China have not supplied any weapons in that time, it showed.
The U.S. would probably move diplomatically to prevent the Philippines from procuring a major defense system from China, according to Jon Grevatt, a defense industry analyst at IHS Jane’s in Bangkok. The Southeast Asian nation’s defense procurement budget climbed to 25 billion pesos ($524 million) this year, up more than 60 percent from 2015, according to IHS Janes data.
“To suggest that they would move away from the U.S. — their long traditional partner — is quite a move if it actually happens,” Grevatt said. “China and Russia would rub their hands with glee for any opportunity to enter the market.”
Japan has provided the Philippines with patrol boats and aircraft as it and other powers attempt to offset China’s growing strength by creating a chain of regional allies committed to the status quo and the rule of law at sea.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Duterte reached a deal on the sidelines of a summit of Southeast Asian leaders on Sept. 6 for Tokyo to provide Manila with two large patrol vessels and loan it up to five used TC-90 surveillance planes.
In an emailed statement Tuesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said that defense relations with the U.S. remain “rock solid” and activities planned this year would continue without interruption. The military had yet to receive a specific directive on how Duterte’s pronouncement on Mindanao would be carried out, it said.
Reacting to Duterte’s pronouncement on Mindanao, Pentagon spokesman Commander Gary Ross said on Monday that the U.S.-Philippine relationship “has been a cornerstone of stability for over 70 years.”
“We will continue to consult closely with our Filipino partners to appropriately tailor our assistance to whatever approach the new Administration adopts,” Ross said.
Duterte spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a televised briefing earlier Tuesday that the president’s statement that American soldiers should leave Mindanao was not yet policy, but the basis for possible action.
“Those statements are not policy set in stone, not policy yet,” Abella said.
The move to end joint patrols in the South China Sea signals Duterte’s intention to improve ties with China, according to Shen Shishun, a senior researcher at the China Institute of International Studies under China’s Foreign Ministry.
“The Philippines got little out of it, and it offended the Chinese, with whom they could have done more business with,” Shen said. “Duterte saw this point and made a practical decision.”
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