The Philippines is exploring deeper cooperation with Taiwan on protecting undersea cables and addressing “gray-zone” activity, despite Manila's one-China policy, which recognises Beijing and not Taipei, a Philippine diplomat said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Felipe F. Carino III, Manila's deputy chief of mission in Washington, told a seminar at the Center for a New American Security that this “pragmatic and practical approach” with Taiwan was necessary to protect mutual interests in the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines.
Carino linked cable security to South China Sea tensions but did not mention China by name, Reuters reported. He said the security of undersea cables was vital given that they carried nearly all intercontinental data flows “and that 60-67% of cyber incidents happen in our region” — a figure he gave at the seminar. “These are very important features that should be protected, so much so that we are exploring deeper cooperation with our friends in Taiwan,” Carino said, adding that the Philippines was doing so “notwithstanding our one China policy.”
The Philippines and Taiwan were exploring “practical and more pragmatic approaches in cooperation, including knowledge-sharing and capacity building,” he said, adding: “We see this cooperation leading towards … addressing the gray-zone issues in our part of the world.” Asked whether the cooperation could include joint patrols or accountability for vessels that disrupt communications, Carino said he did not have details, but said he was sure the cooperation was constantly evolving and some of those things may come to fruition, Reuters reported.
Reuters noted that the Philippines and Taiwan have repeatedly complained about Chinese activities designed to pressure them without direct confrontation, and that China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has overlapping claims with both Taiwan and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Those are the claims and complaints of the sides involved; no new incident was reported in Wednesday's remarks.