The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP-1930) reiterates its continuing condemnation of the uninterrupted presence of US military forces in the Philippines (particularly in potentially resources-rich areas of Mindanao) under the “Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)” and the “Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT)”. The PKP-1930 likewise condemns the ongoing “Balikatan” joint military exercises participated in by 4,000 US troopers and a bigger number Philippine forces in several places of our country along the tense West Philippine Sea (part of the South China Sea).
The PKP-1930 is deeply concerned over the very apparent plan of the USA to draw the Philippines and other ASEAN nations, as well as Australia, Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries, into a new and broader military alliance (an “Asia-Pacific NATO”) aimed at the “containment” of China. The PKP-1930 continues to call for an Asia-Pacific region free from foreign military bases and forces, and free from nuclear weapons. The recent conduct of joint US-Vietnamese naval exercises off the coast of Da Nang, and of joint Chinese-Russian naval exercises in the East China Sea, are only further adding to the regional tensions.
Without losing sight of China’s positive and considerable role in the development of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) group as a rising counterpoise to US imperialist hegemony, the PKP-1930 is however concerned at China’s growing show of military force in the ASEAN region. This is apparently...