Philippines in hard and fast offensive shift on China

The Philippines officially kicked off its new Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC), a shot across China’s bow which among other things orders an increased military presence on the northernmost island province of Batanes near Taiwan.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr made it clear that the new strategic doctrine transcends the “directives” of any specific president or administration and relies instead on “whole-of-nation” long-term implementation planning.

Accordingly, Teodoro called on all “commanders and units” in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) “to exert all efforts to operationalize” the new strategic doctrine.

The Philippine government is yet to publicize a full white paper on the new strategic doctrine. The defense chief has described the CADC as a comprehensive attempt at “developing our capability to protect and secure our entire territory and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in order to ensure that our people and all the generations of Filipinos to come shall freely reap and enjoy the bounties of the natural resources that are rightfully ours within our domain.”

The CADC marks in many ways a belated re-orientation of strategic focus from troubled borders and provinces in the south – a cauldron of insurgencies for the past half a century – toward highly strategic and increasingly tense northern waters and territories, with a growing focus on threats posed by a resurgent China.

Recognizing the implications of the strategic reset, Beijing warned Manila to “tread carefully” and consider its “red line,” namely China’s reunification plans with the self-governing island of Taiwan. In particular, Beijing is known to be troubled by Manila’s plans to expand military cooperation with