Supreme Court E-Library
Information At Your Fingertips

November 08, 2004

PREAMBLE

The Department of National Defense of the Republic of the Philippines and the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to collectively as the two Parties and separately as the Party);

With a view to materializing the related consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, building on the existing friendly relations and cooperation between the two Parties and in line with their common wish to further strengthen and expand their friendly relations and cooperation in the Defense field;

HAVE agreed as follows:

ARTICLE I
GENERAL PRINCIPLE

The Parties shall strengthen and expand their friendly cooperation in the defense field on the basis of the principles of mutual respect for each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful co-existence, as set forth in the United Nations Charter and other universally recognized norms of the international law, so as to jointly safeguard regional and world peace and stability, promote the in-depth and all-round development of the good-neighborly partnership of mutual trust between the two Parties.

ARTICLE II
DEFENCE COOPERATION

The two Parties agreed to focus their cooperation in the following areas:

(1) Exchange of military delegations consisting of high or middle level officers on a yearly basis to promote mutual understanding, mutual trust, and develop friendship and cooperation. The two Parties shall notify each other of the annual plan for exchange of visits at the earliest possible date, so as to carry out the exchanges after agreement is reached through consultation. In the spirit of general equality, the visiting party shall bear their own international travel expenses, while in principle the hosting party shall cover the costs of food, accommodation and local transport as far as the official items in the annual plan are concerned. In case of items beyond the annual plan, such as student tours of military academies, the visiting party shall be self-financed in principle, while the hosting party shall provide conveniences for the visitors.

(2) Establishment of a mechanism of Philippines-China Annual Defense Security Talks Subject: International and regional security situation, friendly cooperation between the two militaries and various issues of common interests Level: at the level of the Undersecretary/ Vice Defense Minister from the Defense Department / Ministry of the Philippines and China

Modality: annual talks

Venue: alternating between the two Parties

Number of Participants: around five persons for each Party

Joint Technical Working Group (TWG): TWG is composed of representatives respectively from the Office for Strategic Planning Service of the Department of National Defense of the Philippines and the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense of China. The responsibility of TWG is to keep contact with each other and prepare for the annual talks, monitor the progression and the implementation of the related cooperation project, and maintain the effectiveness and continuity of the mechanism. The routine and specific matters concerned can be communicated through the Military Attache's office of either side.

(3) Both Parties are aware that, non-traditional security threats have become major factors that affect the peace and stability in the region. Therefore, in line with the principle of equality and reciprocity, the two Parties wish to strengthen their exchanges and cooperation in such fields as counter-terrorism, humanitarian relief and rescue and so forth.

ARTICLE III
ENTRY INTO FORCE

The Memorandum of Understanding shall enter into force upon written notification by the Parties, through diplomatic channels, indicating that their respective internal legal requirements for its entry into force have been fulfilled.

ARTICLE IV
AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION

The Memorandum of Understanding may be amended at any time by mutual consent of both Parties in written form, and may be terminated at any time by mutual consent of both Parties in written form.

Either Party may terminate this Memorandum of Understanding by submitting written notice of its intention to the other Party three months in advance. The Memorandum of Understanding shall then terminate upon the expiration of the said three months.

ARTICLE V
MISCELLANEOUS

Any difference or dispute in connection with interpretation or application of the terms of this Memorandum of Understanding shall be resolved through mutual consultation between the two Parties.

The Parties guarantee that information obtained in the implementation of this Memorandum of Understanding shall not be disclosed to any third Party without the approval of the other Party, and both Parties shall take all necessary measures to secure the classified information, related in this Memorandum of Understanding.

Any subsequent agreement between either Party and a third Party will not affect the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding or the fulfillment of obligations of the two Parties under this Memorandum of Understanding.

Done in duplicate in Beijing on November 8th 2004 in the English and Chinese languages, both texts being equally authentic.