This Senate resolution commemorates the 74th anniversary of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Philippines while condemning China's increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea. The resolution highlights recent Chinese coast guard and military activities against Philippine vessels, including ramming ships, using water cannons, and blocking humanitarian supply missions to Philippine forces stationed on disputed reefs like Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Shoal. It reaffirms that the U.S. mutual defense commitment extends to attacks on Philippine forces anywhere in the South China Sea, including actions against the Philippine Coast Guard within the Philippines' internationally recognized exclusive economic zone.
The resolution calls on the President to take appropriate action to deter Chinese aggression and help the Philippines defend itself, while supporting continued U.S.-Philippine military cooperation through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which now covers nine strategic locations in the Philippines. It also endorses strengthening partnerships among the U.S., Philippines, Japan, South Korea, and Australia to counter Chinese territorial claims that an international tribunal ruled unlawful in 2016. As a non-binding resolution, it requires no funding and serves primarily to express Congress's position on this critical alliance and regional security challenge.