Philippines declines US assistance amid South China Sea tensions, says military chief

Tensions in the waterway have boiled over into violence in the past year as rift between China and Philippines

The Philippines has turned down offers from the United States to assist operations in the South China Sea, after a flare-up with China over missions to resupply Filipino troops on a contested shoal, its military chief said.

Tensions in the disputed waterway have boiled over into violence in the past year, with a Filipino sailor losing a finger in the latest June 17 clash that Manila described as “intentional-high speed ramming” by the Chinese coast guard.

The US, a treaty ally, has offered support but Manila prefers to handle operations on its own, Armed Forces Chief General Romeo Brawner told Reuters late Thursday.

“Yes, of course, they have been offering help and they asked us how they could help us in any way,” he said.

“We try to exhaust all possible options that we have before we ask for help.”

Read: Philippines' President calls for de-escalation in South China Sea

Manila and Washington are bound by the 1951-Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), a military pact that can be invoked in the case of armed attacks on Philippine forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea.

Confrontations between the Philippines and China in Asia's most contested waters have increased in frequency over the past year as Beijing has pressed its claim to the waterway and Manila continued missions to bring supplies to soldiers living aboard a rusty, aging warship that it grounded on a contested shoal.

Some observers, including former deputy US National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger, have called for direct US naval support for the resupply missions.

But Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said the Philippines wanted them to be a “pure Philippine operation”.

“This is our legitimate national interest, so we don’t see any reason for them (the US) to come in,” Ano told Reuters.

Ano, who spoke to his US counterpart Jake Sullivan last month to discuss shared concerns over China’s "dangerous and escalatory actions", said the MDT was “far from being invoked”.