RP, China work to set up security dialogue
Saturday, October 2, 2004 11:23 PM


RP, China work to set up security dialogue

The Philippines and China will set up a mechanism to consult on security issues affecting the two countries and the region, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz said Friday.


Cruz, a lawyer appointed to the defense post last month, said he was due to meet senior Chinese defense and military officials in Beijing by the first week of November to broaden and deepen relations.


Cruz's official trip follows President Arroyo's state visit to Beijing in early September and a high-level military mission to observe Chinese army exercises in Wanchu last week.


"What we are trying to achieve is to set up an annual security dialogue, and from there, we can pinpoint areas where we can have closer cooperation, like exchange of training and mutual help in sea disasters," he told reporters.


China and the Philippines have cordial diplomatic links, with one of the few ripples being conflicting claims -- along with four other nations -- to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.


Manila and Beijing established formal relations in 1975 but waited for 20 years before agreeing to exchange military attaches and enhance defense ties.


They have long planned to open annual high-level political and security dialogues, but not a single meeting has taken place over the last nine years despite two-way visits of senior defense and military officials.


One security analyst said Manila's decision to improve ties with Beijing on security and military matters recognized China's growing economic and political clout in the region.


"All boats rise in the tide, including paper boats like us," Rex Robles, a retired naval officer, told Reuters, saying Manila was trying to catch up with Asian neighbors that had already developed closer and stronger ties with China.


Cruz said the government hoped to formalize the security dialogue in line with Arroyo's foreign policy recognizing the United States, China and Japan as the determining factors in the region's political stability.


He said it would take some time before security relations with China matured to the level of the long partnership with the United States, which trains, advises and equips Philippine troops fighting Muslim and communist rebels.


The United States kept its largest overseas military bases in its former colony for 46 years until 1992. The year before, the Philippine Senate had voted to end a treaty allowing the bases, which were very active during the Vietnam War.


Cruz said it was premature to talk about joint military exercises with China and buying defense hardware, even though Chinese companies have expressed interest in participating in a modernization program for the Philippine armed forces.
Reuters

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