The United States has backed the Philippines in denouncing China’s latest ballistic missile test in the Pacific Ocean, labeling the military exercise a “provocative” move.
On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton released a statement underscoring Washington’s solidarity with Manila and reinforcing the long-standing defense ties between the two allies.
“The ironclad US-Philippine Alliance has been a tremendous and transparent source of regional peace and stability for over seven decades,” Lipton noted.
Lipton also took aim at Beijing’s expanding military capabilities, stating:
“Beijing’s provocative missile launch yesterday is further evidence of its rapid and secretive nuclear weapons development program, which runs counter to regional stability and is inconsistent with the pursuit of meaningful arms control discussions.”
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Thomas Pigott mirrored these apprehensions, questioning the underlying motives of the test and noting that it compromises global non-proliferation initiatives.
“We continue to urge China to engage in meaningful arms control discussions and commit to a regularized notification arrangement for all intercontinental-range ballistic missile and space launches consistent with commitments made by all other P5 (Five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council) members,” Pigott said.
The controversy stems from a July 6 incident where China launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine, which concluded its flight path in the southern Pacific Ocean.
The launch drew a fierce reprimand from the Philippine Department of National Defense, which condemned the test as “a reckless display of military power that shows little regard for smaller countries and the fragile ecological systems that sustain their people.”