Lithuania's defense chief praises Philippine campaign exposing China's aggression

MANILA, Philippines — A Philippine campaign aimed at exposing China's aggression in the disputed South China Sea has shattered ''the illusion of China being peaceful and friendly,'' Lithuania's defense chief said Wednesday, urging democratic countries to stand united against an emerging axis of authoritarian countries led by China and Russia.

Beginning in 2023, the campaign, which Manila calls a ''transparency initiative," includes publicizing images of China's aggressive actions in the disputed waters.

''I believe that, in this case, revealing to the world how China is harassing the Philippine's navy and fishermen of the Philippines in their own waters is very important because it shatters the illusion of China being a peaceful and friendly neighbor,'' Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said.

''It's nothing peaceful when you see water cannons being used against peaceful fishermen and there's nothing peaceful about ramming the ships of Philippines in the territorial waters of the Philippines," she added.

Šakalienė expressed support to former Filipino senator Francis Tolentino while in the capital for talks aimed at deepening defense ties between the two countries.

Tolentino was sanctioned by China on Tuesday for his strong criticisms of Beijing's acts of aggression and for his work on two new laws, which demarcated Philippine territorial zones, including in parts of the South China Sea that Beijing claims.

Šakalienė said she and her family had also been sanctioned by China and banned from entering the country for her strong criticisms of China's aggression and human rights record.

''Welcome to the club,'' Šakalienė said in an interview with a small group of journalists, including from The Associated Press, in response to China's sanction against Tolentino. ''Talking about China's crimes is what gets you into the blacklist.''

"Pressure, coercion and threats is their usual method of operation,'' she said.

Chinese officials did not immediately comment on Šakalienė's remarks.

During President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s administration, which began in mid-2022, the Philippines invited Filipino and foreign journalists to join its coast guard and navy patrols in the disputed South China Sea. They have witnessed an increasingly alarming spike of confrontations in the waters in recent years, with China using water cannons and dangerous maneuvers to defend its claim to the global trade route.

China blames the Philippines for instigating the clashes. A 2016 international arbitration decision invalidated China's claims based on the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, but Beijing has rejected the ruling and continues to defy it.

Šakalienė said that in the Baltic Sea, Chinese ships and crew members have helped suspected Russian fleets damage undersea oil pipelines, and data and electricity cables belonging to rival European nations like Lithuania by dragging steel anchors on the seafloor. She warned that such acts of sabotage could also be carried out in Asia by China and Russia.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the long-simmering territorial disputes in the South China Sea but they have not been as vocal against China's aggression as the Philippines.

The United States does not lay claim to the disputed waters but has repeatedly warned that it is obligated to defend the Philippines — Washington's oldest treaty ally in Asia — if it comes under an armed attack.

Šakalienė warned that it's crucial for countries to band together and fight an emerging authoritarian bloc consisting of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea which she said is a threat to democracy.

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Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila contributed to this report.