Did US Ally Make ‘Secret Agreement’ With China? What We Know

China says the Philippines is neglecting its side of a behind-the-scenes bargain struck under the previous administration, complicating a territorial dispute in the South China Sea that has the potential to draw in Philippine ally the U.S. But one analyst says China is misinterpreting—or mispresenting—the terms of this unofficial arrangement even as it disregards its own commitments under international maritime law. A former spokesperson for Rodrigo Duterte, who served as the Philippine president from 2016-2022, claimed Duterte had made a “gentlemen’s agreement” with China not to reinforce the BRP Sierra Madre, a Philippine warship grounded at contested Second Thomas Shoal…