MANILA, Philippines: It is China's excessive maritime claims and aggressive behavior, including its militarization of the South China Sea (SCS), that raise tensions and undermine peace and stability in the region and not any "exclusive grouping."
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) stressed this in response to China's claim that the trilateral summit involving the Philippines, the United States, and Japan last April 11 "introduced bloc confrontation into this region."
US President Joe Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Washington D.C to reinvigorate their bilateral relations and expand their economic cooperation.
"The source of tension in our region is well known to all. China should reflect upon its own actions in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea," the DFA said in a statement on Thursday.
The DFA said the meeting also allowed the three countries to "reaffirm their proud and resolute commitment to their shared fundamental values of freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law."
The trilateral initiative responded to the Philippines' development needs, in line with President Marcos' socioeconomic agenda and economic diplomacy objectives," the DFA said.
"It is the sovereign choice and decision of the Philippines to strengthen our alliance with the United States and our strategic partnership with Japan, in accordance with our national interests and in line with our independent foreign policy," the DFA said.
"Our actions are in line with international law and complement our commitments in other regional and multilateral forums," the Foreign Affairs department said.
The trilateral cooperation is a partnership and a cooperative framework for the promotion of peace, stability and economic prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
"It is an admirable aspiration that should not be considered a threat by any peace-loving country," the DFA said.
Mao Ning, China Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, said China "strongly opposes the practice of bloc politics by relevant countries."
"We firmly oppose any acts that stoke and drive up tensions and harm other countries' strategic security and interests. We are seriously against forming exclusive groupings in this region," Mao said.
Japan and the Philippines "have every right to develop normal relations with other countries, but they should not introduce bloc confrontation into this region, still less engage in trilateral cooperation at the expense of other countries' interests," Mao said.
The DFA said the historic trilateral initiative was "another platform to further promote regional peace and security."
"It is only reasonable and responsible that the participants discuss regional security issues of mutual concern, challenges to the rule of law, and the peaceful resolution of outstanding disputes," it added.
In the case of the SCS, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and the final and legally-binding 2016 Arbitral Award provided "definitive lawful basis for the determination of the sovereign rights and jurisdiction within the Philippines' maritime entitlements," the DFA said.
China dismissed as "illegal and void" the arbitral ruling which invalidated its expansive claim in the SCS which encroached on the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
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