An alliance with a powerful person is never safe.
— Athenian aristocrat Phaedrus of the Myrrhinus deme

MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — Prior to his appointment as secretary of state, then United States senator Marco Rubio of Florida issued some 'tough talk' in reaction to continuing harassment by China's Coast Guard (CCG), its militia and the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) against foreign vessels in the South China Sea (SCS).
Particularly targeted by the Chinese coast patrols, militia fleets and PLAN warships are vessels of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) who, Beijing, accuse of encroaching into their territorial waters.
Reacting to China's aggressive behavior in the region, Rubio has verbally warned China, stressing it should "stop messing around."
The 72nd secretary of state cited that China’s "deeply destabilizing" actions are compelling the US to "counteract." He discouraged Beijing from carrying out "anything rash or irrational" when it comes to the Philippines or Taiwan if it is serious about stabilizing US-China relations.
Specifically, Rubio stated: "The actions they are taking now are deeply destabilizing, they are forcing us to take counteractions because we have commitments to the Philippines and we have commitments to Taiwan that we intend to keep."
And interestingly, he mentioned that Beijing's recent actions of intimidation in the SCS is "forcing (the US) to focus (its) attention in ways (Washington) prefer not to have to."
Did we hear that right?
Is America truly being 'forced' to act in behalf of Taiwan and the Philippines?
The US secretary of state also warned that if any "miscommunication" or "some inadvertent conflict" emerges out of China's harassment in the SCS, which would then force the US to defend the Philippines as its treaty ally, the impact it would have on the entire globe would be 'enormous'.
Indeed! How enormous would that be?
Just recently, China deployed its 165-meter-long coast guard vessel, dubbed 'Monster Ship', near Zambales. Could this be an example of the 'harassment' Rubio was referring to?
Manila-based geopolitical analyst and De La Salle University (DLSU) Department of International Studies professor Don McLain Gill described Rubio's remarks as indicative of the stability of US-China relations, which "rests greatly on whether China would respect Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights."
Professor Gill made it "clear that China is indeed the aggressor in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and that the US-Philippines alliance will remain vital in Washington's security calculations."
In upholding US security commitments to the Philippines and highlighting the significance of Philippine security as a determinant for future US-China ties, Senator Rubio illustrated how the bilateral alliance and US security commitments to the Philippines are not up for bargain and will not be subjected to any tradeoff between the US and China.
Rubio emphasized Manila's 'strategic importance' to Washington not only on the military perspective but also over the 'real economic opportunities' it could explore with the country.
He told the US Senate committee that Washington must 'show results' so that th(e) alliance (between the US and the Philippines) becomes enduring: "When your engagement with a country leads to economic development—whether it's outbound US investment in the Philippines or what have you—then that becomes enduring."
Clearly, Rubio has set the tone with his 'tough talk'. But the question many Filipinos ask is will America 'walk the talk'?

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