US "Diplomatic Speak" over Philippine Scarborough Shoal Dispute with China

According to anc.abs-cbnnews.com, the "US won't take sides in PH-China dispute" The news station was emphatic: "The US will honor its mutual defense treaty with the PH, but it will not take sides in the Scarborough Shoal standoff between Manila and Beijing."

To us, Defenders of the Philippine Sabah and Spratly Claims, "diplomatic speak" is what the US is doing at the moment. The US cannot proclaim loud and clear that it will stand by the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal (nor over any of the disputed territories by the West Philippine Sea) because it would do the Philippines no good at all to proclaim at this point that they [the US] might have to come to our defence should our sovereignty be violated by China. What we are not seeing is what they are doing through diplomatic channels, i.e., with the DFA through their Embassy in Manila. Moreover, we must see/read between the lines: the US is overtly doing Balikatan exercises with our troops and that is enough signal to send to China and to foreign powers that are thinking of threatening our sovereignty to be careful.

However, there is a caveat, if you like, an important provision in the RP-US Mutual Defence Treaty: The US will act in accordance to the treaty should any of its physical interests in the Philippines is directly hit by a potential foreign aggressor. Otherwise, the US will not lift a finger overtly despite the Treaty. Rest assured that it's easy enough to go around that caveat should things escalate.

We are pleased to note that the members of the Akbayan Party (left wing anti-US but pro-China ideologues), shown in picture, are keen to display their sense of Philippine patriotism against aggressive Red China. Bravo!


NB: If you have a Facebook account, you can join and participate in the ongoing discussions about the Philippines-China dispute over the Scarborough Shoal at the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum on Facebook.