'China expansion agenda nothing to do with US'

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. believes that the United States and whoever sits in Washington have nothing to do with China's expansionist agenda in the Indo-Pacific region, including the South China Sea.

- With Ghio Ong, Delon Porcalla

In a Reuters report, he was quoted as saying that China's actions stem from long-standing strategic ambitions independent of any US policy.

"The aggressiveness of China has been several years in the making," Teodoro yesterday said, noting that "China's design for the region does not depend on any American leader."

"It depends on its own plan of action in the region, its own expansionist activities, its own need to control the area," he added.

Teodoro said US policies do have an influence on regional dynamics, but he believes China's actions were "pre-determined" by its leadership, regardless of who is US president.

Although tensions continue in the South China Sea, he said "the prospect of war is not imminent," but rather "remote" and "would entirely depend upon the internal conditions of China."

Stressing that the Philippines remains focused on diplomacy and establishing a credible defense posture, Teodoro said "you can't have diplomacy without a credible deterrent force, and what we are doing is merely putting a stop, as best as we can, to the illegal incursions of China, which I do not think any country in the world supports."

Teodoro and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have been working together to realize the goals of the military's modernization program.

Recent acquisitions and planned purchases have so far focused on assets that will protect the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty through more warships and patrol vessels and fighter jets, including FA-50 aircraft and the possible acquisition of more powerful multirole fighters.