The Philippines officially notified the United States of the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) on the deployment of US military forces on the island. This was announced by Philippine Foreign Minister Teddy Loxin.
@DFAPHL The Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the United States has received the notice of termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement. As a diplomatic courtesy there will be no further factual announcements following this self-explanatory development. https://t.co/qQhywEpcea
- Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) February 11, 2020"The deputy head of the mission at the US Embassy received a notice of termination of the agreement on foreign armed forces. Based on diplomatic politeness, there will be no further statements regarding this non-explanatory step, ”the politician wrote on Twitter.
The VFA between the United States and the Philippines was ratified by the parties in 1999. It is worth noting that the document itself does not regulate military cooperation between the two countries, but the legal order of the US military on the archipelago. In particular, one of its central provisions is the issue of jurisdiction of US military personnel who have committed crimes in the Philippines.
Under the VFA, the US government retains jurisdiction and authority over its military personnel, which, according to the agreement, are not subject to Filipino military courts. It also removes tax and tariff charges on US military cargo passing through the country and allows US ships and planes to move freely in the waters and airspace of the Philippines. In addition, it provides a legal basis for conducting joint exercises in the country.
180 days after Washington receives formal notice, the agreement will terminate.
Visa issue
In late January, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his intention to break the agreement after Washington refused to issue a visa to Philippine Senator Ronald of the Rosa case.
This decision was made by the State Department on the basis of the budget law signed by Trump at the beginning of the year. It stipulated in the form of sanctions a ban on entry into the United States by Filipino officials allegedly associated with a lawsuit against one of the opposition leaders - ex-Minister of Justice of the country Leyla de Lima.
De Lima was arrested in February 2017 on charges of receiving money from drug lords during her tenure as Minister of Justice from 2010 to 2015. The politician denies everything, claiming that she is being persecuted because of her opposition.
Calling visa restrictions US interference in the internal affairs of his country, Duterte gave the American side a month to review them. In addition, the Filipino leader banned Cabinet members from visiting the United States, and also refused a visit to the ASEAN Summit in the United States.
Rodrigo Duterte also banned American senators from entering the country, who proposed similar sanctions against Philippine officials.
As Andrei Sidorov, head of the department of international organizations and world political processes at the Moscow State University’s Department of World Politics, noted in a conversation with RT, Duterte positions himself as a person who is independent of anyone’s will.
“In addition, this step by Duterte demonstrates the common desire of a number of American allies, including in Southeast Asia, to free themselves from the dictatorship that Washington used in relation to them,” the political scientist explained.
Andrei Sidorov added that while the Philippines is dependent on the United States in economic terms, it remains at a high level.
“In the event that Washington decides to apply full-scale economic sanctions against them, this will put serious pressure on the country's power and economy,” the expert emphasized.
Protest mood
The eccentric President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has been criticizing the United States more than once since his election in 2016, in particular Washington’s attitude to his country as a vassal. He confirmed this position in late January in an interview with RT.
- Rodrigo Duterte
- Reuters
- © Eloisa Lopez
“Because the US continues to look at us as vassals, since we have been under their rule for 50 years,” he said.
He stressed that the Philippines can always count on the fair position of Russia and China, but not the United States.
“That's because they (Russia and China. - RT ) respect the sovereignty of the country, which the United States does not do at all. And this applies not only to the Philippines, but also to other countries. They absolutely do not respect the sovereignty of states, ”said Duterte.
In addition, the situation around the islands of Nansha (Spratly) and Huangyan (Scarborough Reef) is exacerbating. In a protracted territorial dispute, to one degree or another, China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines participate.
The United States regularly sends its destroyers to patrol areas near the disputed islands, which China considers to be its own.
The decision to break the agreement with the United States was caused by the desire to increase the importance of the Philippines as a participant in the regional dispute between the United States and China, said Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“Many countries understand their importance in the framework of US-Chinese competition, so they are trying to take a neutral position in order to create a situation in which the United States and China invest in them and thereby increase strategic capital. Anti-Chinese countries will take the pro-American position, while anti-American countries will take the pro-Chinese one, while the hesitant states will extract political capital from this, ”the expert explained.
Now in the Pacific region there is a struggle for allies between Washington and Beijing, which means that the countries of the region can allow themselves such steps to improve their international position, Konstantin Blokhin noted.
“Washington is trying to consistently put together an alliance against Beijing and impose various American military bases on it, while the Chinese side offers trade preferences to its allies,” the political scientist added.
Pacific disorder
The Philippines’s actions will undermine US authority in the region, especially given Washington’s desire to gain new allies in the confrontation with China, said Andrei Sidorov.
“This situation will affect the ambitions of the United States, especially in anticipation of the ASEAN summit, since the non-arrival of one of the organization’s participants will demonstrate that the unity that Washington would like to demonstrate with regard to Beijing is not monolithic,” the political scientist emphasized.
- USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and USS Boxer amphibious assault ship in the South China Sea
- AFP
- © Erwin Jacob V. MICIANO / Navy Office of Information
The Pacific is of particular importance to the US under the leadership of the Trump administration, Andrei Sidorov recalled in a conversation with RT.
“US geopolitics is oceanic in nature. In the US national security strategy, the Trump administration has written down the Indo-Pacific region, which they intend to create by combining the states of the Pacific basin and India. For the United States, it is important to create this design in order to tie itself to Eurasia and serve as a counterbalance to the influence of China, which has the project "One belt - one way." The USA cannot allow the consolidation of the Eurasian space, ”the expert said.
Manila received virtually nothing from being closely associated with Washington, the political scientist added.
“For the United States, it is important to what extent these states can be used as a counterweight to China. But Washington does not take into account the fact that the countries of Southeast Asia pursue a rational policy: they are afraid of China, but at the same time they want to cooperate with it, to receive benefits that are not in the interests of the United States, ”concluded Andrei Sidorov.