Two senators on Sunday urged Malacañang to reconsider bilateral talks with China amid new tensions in the area over the issue of United States reconnaissance flights over disputed islands. Both Senators Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Francis Escudero, expressing fears that the Philippines might be caught in the middle of a skirmish between superpowers China and the United States, said that the Palace could also complement such talks with back-channeling, or the use of unofficial and informal communication to help ease the situation. The senator referred to the incident last week where the Chinese Navy warned a US surveillance plane eight times to leave the airspace over artificial islands it was building in the disputed area, saying the action was “irresponsible and dangerous.” The United States, however, justified its flight as “routine” and “appropriate” and vowed to keep up its patrols over what it considered as “international waters.”

Avendaño, C. O. (2015, May 25). PH-China talks on sea row pushed. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A2.