cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37845691
The Philippines and Lithuania signed an agreement to build a security alliance resulting from their mutual alarm over what they perceive as growing aggression threatening their regions by countries such as China.
The memorandum of understanding signed Monday in Manila by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and his Lithuanian counterpart, Dovilė Šakalienė, would foster defense cooperation particularly in cyber security, defense industries, munitions production, addressing threats and maritime security, the Department of National Defense in Manila said.
Šakalienė described Lithuania’s alarm over an emerging “authoritarian axis” of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, which she raised in an international defense forum in Singapore last month. The emerging alliance needed to be confronted by a unified response from pro-democracy countries, she said.
“What we see now is that authoritarian states are really cooperating very efficiently,” Šakalienė said at a news conference with Teodoro. “One of the worst results is the cooperation on Ukraine.”
[...]
Šakalienė cited China’s actions toward Taiwan and Filipino fishermen in the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing has claimed virtually in its entirety. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have been involved in prolonged territorial standoffs but confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces have particularly spiked in recent years.
[...]
The Philippines has adopted a strategy of shaming China by documenting Beijing’s assertive actions in the disputed waters, a key global trade route, to rally international support.
“We see these horrifying materials, videos of how they are threatening Filipino fishermen, how they are treating people who are simply making their living in their own waters, in their own territory,” Šakalienė said. “If they work together to threaten us, then we must work together to defend ourselves.”
[...]
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.
[...]
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.
[...]