The Government of the Philippines supported the creation of a new military alliance between Australia, Great Britain and the USA Aukus, despite the concerns of Malaysia and Indonesia. This is reported by South China Morning POST with reference to the statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Theodoro Locin.
The purpose of the Defense Partnership Treaty is to protect and defend the common interests of the parties in the Indo-Pacific region and the combination of efforts in the development of the defense sector. In the framework of the Alliance, Australia will receive technology for deploying atomic submarines in the region.
Diplomat believes that the increase in the ability of the military unit to project power should “restore and save the balance of forces, and not destabilize it.” Expressing the support of the alliance, he stressed that the transfer of nuclear submarine technologies for the construction of nuclear submarines does not violate the 1995 contract to prevent nuclear weapons in Southeast Asia.
The position of Malaysia and Indonesia is very different from the opinion of the head of the Philippine Foreign Ministry. The newspaper reports that the governments of the countries “beat the alarm” due to the rivalry growing in Southeast Asia.
In August, President Philippines Rodrigo Dwarte again resolved the American administration to post troops on its territory in exchange for vaccine supplies from COVID-19. The agreements achieved allow to stay by the US military in the Philippines, and also regulates the procedure for joint exercises.
Voltage between Washington and Beijing in recent months intensified against the background of competition in the Pacific region. The Chinese authorities claim that most of the international waters in the region belong to the PRC. We are talking about controversial waters in Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and others. The Chinese government is making measures to enhance the control over the sea routes through which world trade takes place.
In turn, Canberra London and Washington joined the efforts in the strategic sphere, creating the Aukus Military Alliance. According to officials of the United States, the participants of the Alliance within the partnership agreement intend to counteract Beijing’s strengthening in the military and technological sphere.