Government urged: Remain uninvolved in conflict between world powers

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Pia Lee-Brago - The Philippine Star

April 6, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A group of retired Philippine foreign service officers proposed to the government a comprehensive policy approach to the simmering issues the country faces in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

The thrust of the paper, “Diplomacy as the Linchpin for Protecting Philippine Rights in the West Philippine Sea,” authored by the retired diplomats, presents measures on how to defend Philippine maritime rights in the WPS, primarily through diplomacy and understanding that the subject is not the only driving force behind Philippine-China relations, but also economic and cultural ties.

The authors said “the shaping of West Philippine Sea policy is and will continue to be a work in progress that should be modified as needed, depending on changing geopolitical and economic circumstances, not to mention internal conditions in our country.”

This paper offers short, medium and long-range options that could break the impasse and allow the Philippines and China to create conditions needed for peace, stability and the sharing of the rich resources in the WPS.

One of the important conditions is the Philippines’ strict adherence to the one-China policy.

“Out-of-the-box and difficult solutions are proposed and they will require careful consideration and a change of mindset in both our leaders and people. It is our hope that the recommendations, the principal one being the adoption of a truly independent foreign policy leading in the long term to eventual neutrality, are at least weighed carefully in terms of opportunity costs should they be set aside,” the authors said.

They said there is an overwhelming preference of the people and most of the leaders for the United States over China, but cited the lessons of the war in Ukraine that has been used as a proxy or surrogate of the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“The major lesson is the need to remain non-involved in a direct conflict between two world powers. Such non-aligned status will require a healthy economy capable of building up a credible, albeit limited, deterrent force, a task that can be achieved only if sufficient funds are allocated for the acquisition of military assets and training of personnel to employ them,” the authors said.

With very scarce economic and military resources made available by the Philippine government for defense, deterrence is used and the employment of limited resources in specific instances and geographical areas in the WPS.

Part of those resources is the country’s soft power, the ability to influence other nations through attraction and persuasion employing tools such as culture, information and diplomacy.

“The goal is to make a potential aggressor think twice and weigh the cost of attacking us against the benefit it would gain. In short, the ability to give us a modicum of respect for our hard and soft power.”

The short, medium and long-term options relate to courses of action aimed at fulfilling the goals of deterrence as well as conflict prevention and resolution through diplomacy.

The proposals include an immediate step in the intensification of efforts at public diplomacy to expose the actuations of China in the WPS, not only before the Filipino public, but also the world community.

Another proposed immediate measure is the establishment of a maritime militia under the Philippine Coast Guard.

The militia would consist of fishing boats along the coastlines of Zambales, Palawan and the Sulu archipelago and their mission would be to support the PCG and the Philippine National Police in monitoring the adherence to Philippine fishery laws in Philippine territorial and internal waters, and the prevention of smuggling in the territorial sea of the country.

China to Philippines: Stop provocation

China urged the Philippines yesterday to demonstrate “sincerity” and stop “provocation” amid recent aggressive and dangerous actions by Chinese maritime forces in the WPS.

The National Maritime Council condemned the recent aggressive and dangerous actions by the China Coast Guard, the People’s Liberation Army Navy, the Chinese Maritime Militia and other Chinese maritime forces against Philippine vessels, aircraft and Filipino fisherfolk in the WPS.

But the Chinese embassy in Manila claimed the Philippine Navy, Coast Guard and other government vessels and aircraft have repeatedly provoked incidents of infringement at sea and “hyped” them up.

“The Philippine side should demonstrate sincerity, match words with deeds, immediately cease maritime infringement and provocation, stop hyping up the maritime situation and return to the correct track of resolving maritime issues through dialogue and consultation,” Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Lingpeng said.

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