MaharlikaNews | Canada Leading Online Filipino Newspaper Portal The No. 1 most engaged information website for Filipino – Canadian in Canada. MaharlikaNews.com received almost a quarter a million visitors in 2020.
(UPDATE) THE Philippines and Australia further solidify their alliance with the signing of a strategic partnership, as the two countries seek to counter China's growing aggression in the South China Sea.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed the joint declaration on strategic partnership between their countries in Malacañang on Friday.
During their meeting, Marcos thanked Albenese for the “strong support” to the Philippines and for making clear “that the claims that are being made upon Philippine maritime territory are not valid and have not been recognized and not in conjunction or consistent with international law.” “And to have friends like you and partners like you, especially on that subject is very gratifying and encourages us to continue down that path. So, we thank you for that,” Marcos said.
For his part, Albanese reiterated Australia's support to the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award, which nullified Beijing's claims over almost the entire South China Sea.
“We have collective responsibility for security, including support for the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS, that's very important,” Albanese said.
“Australia does support, as I said at the East Asia Summit, the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award. That is final and it's binding and it's important that that be upheld going forward,” he added.
THE Philippines and Australia will shore up their security and economic alliance Friday with the signing of a strategic partnership, as the countries seek to counter China's growing regional influence.
The agreement was expected to be finalized after a meeting between Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Manila.
Albanese's visit, which marks the first bilateral talks by an Australian prime minister in Manila in 20 years, follows a series of trips by senior members of his government to the archipelago nation since Marcos took office in 2022.
China's growing assertiveness on Taiwan and militarization of artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea have spurred Canberra, as well as Washington, to deepen defence cooperation with longstanding ally Manila.
Without mentioning China, Marcos thanked Albanese for his “strong support” for the Philippines as it seeks to fend off maritime claims that are “not valid.”
“To have friends like you and partners like you especially on that subject is very gratifying and encourages us to continue down that path,” Marcos told Albanese at the start of talks.
Albanese described the two countries as “great friends” and expressed hope that his visit would help take the relationship “to an even higher level.”
Beijing claims almost the entire sea, ignoring an international ruling that its stance has no legal basis.
The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims to parts of it.
Philippine ex-president Rodrigo Duterte pivoted away from his country's traditional security partners towards China, but the Marcos administration has sought to reverse that stance.
Australian and Filipino troops last month held a major joint exercise near the contested waters. The event was watched by Marcos, his defense minister Gilberto Teodoro and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles.
*****
Credit belongs to : www.manilatimes.net
