The Philippines and the United States dedicated to stepping up maritime coverage and operational cooperation following a gathering of their respective representatives in Washington, D.C. on Friday.
At the second Philippines-United States Maritime Dialogue, each side emphasised their dedication to sustaining the rules-based worldwide order within the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea, in keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated China’s large claims within the very important sea lane.
”[T]he rising tensions and demanding state of affairs within the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea and the persistent and evolving challenges to the rules-based worldwide order drive us to boost methods to reply sooner and in a extra coordinated and efficient method,” Foreign Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Maria Angela Ponce stated in her opening remarks, as cited by the Philippine Embassy.
The two international locations additionally talked in regards to the broad scope of the bilateral maritime cooperation engagements and proposals, together with measures to boost combating transnational crimes at sea, addressing illicit, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and defending and conserving the marine setting.
Shared challenges within the South China Sea, together with prospects for trilateral maritime cooperation between the Philippines, the US, and Japan, had been additionally mentioned.
The Philippine delegation was led by Ponce, along with Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez.
Deputy Assistant Secretary Jung H. Pak of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the US State Department led the American delegation. —VBL, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
