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U.S. Forging Closer Military Ties With Philippines U.S. Forging Closer Military Ties With Philippines
(about 7 hours later)
MANILA — Secretary of State John F. Kerry said here on Tuesday that the United States would give the Philippines $40 million in maritime security assistance and was negotiating with Manila to rotate more American military forces through the country, the latest signs of the Obama administration’s concerns about mounting pressure from China on its neighbors. MANILA — Secretary of State John Kerry said here on Tuesday that the United States would give the Philippines $40 million in maritime security assistance and was negotiating with Manila to rotate more American military forces through the country, the latest signs of the Obama administration’s concerns about mounting pressure from China on its neighbors.
Both steps have been months in preparation, and Mr. Kerry took pains not to portray them as direct responses to the most recent difficulties in Sino-American relations. Even so, they signal that the United States may not back down quickly as China becomes increasingly assertive in claiming islands, air space and large expanses of ocean in the East China Sea and South China Sea. Both steps have been months in preparation, and Mr. Kerry took pains not to portray them as direct responses to the most recent difficulties in Chinese-American relations. Even so, they signal that the United States may not back down quickly as China becomes increasingly assertive in claiming islands, airspace and large expanses of ocean in the East China Sea and South China Sea.
“The United States strongly opposes the use of intimidation, coercion or aggression to advance territorial claims,” Mr. Kerry said. “The United States remains firmly committed to the security of the Philippines and the region.”“The United States strongly opposes the use of intimidation, coercion or aggression to advance territorial claims,” Mr. Kerry said. “The United States remains firmly committed to the security of the Philippines and the region.”
Appearing at a joint news conference after an afternoon of discussions, Mr. Kerry and the Philippine foreign secretary, Albert F. del Rosario, strongly criticized China’s recent unilateral declaration of an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea, including air space previously monitored mainly by Japan and South Korea. Appearing at a joint news conference after an afternoon of discussions, Mr. Kerry and the Philippine foreign secretary, Albert F. del Rosario, strongly criticized China’s recent unilateral declaration of an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea, including airspace previously monitored mainly by Japan and South Korea.
“China, in doing this, effectively is attempting to transform an air zone into its own domestic air space, and we think that this could lead to compromising freedom of flight,” Mr. del Rosario said. “China, in doing this, effectively is attempting to transform an air zone into its own domestic airspace, and we think that this could lead to compromising freedom of flight,” Mr. del Rosario said.
Mr. Kerry reiterated that “the United States does not recognize that zone and does not accept it.”Mr. Kerry reiterated that “the United States does not recognize that zone and does not accept it.”
“The zone should not be implemented, and China should refrain from taking similar unilateral actions elsewhere in the region, and particularly over the South China Sea,” he said.“The zone should not be implemented, and China should refrain from taking similar unilateral actions elsewhere in the region, and particularly over the South China Sea,” he said.
The latest maritime incident between the United State and China in the South China Sea occurred on Dec. 5, but did not become public until last weekend. An American vessel, the missile-carrying cruiser Cowpens, nearly collided with a Chinese ship that was accompanying China’s aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. The latest maritime incident between the United States and China in the South China Sea occurred on Dec. 5, but did not become public until last weekend. An American vessel, the missile-carrying cruiser Cowpens, nearly collided with a Chinese ship that was accompanying China’s aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.
The joint news conference by Mr. Kerry and Mr. del Rosario came at the end of the day on Tuesday, after the daily foreign ministry briefing in Beijing, and there was no immediate reaction from the Chinese government. The joint news conference by Mr. Kerry and Mr. del Rosario came at the end of the day on Tuesday, after the daily Foreign Ministry briefing in Beijing, and there was no immediate reaction from the Chinese government.
But Ruan Zongze, a prominent Chinese diplomat who is a vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, a research organization in Beijing financed by the foreign ministry, said in a telephone interview that the Chinese government would not be pleased by the prospect of more American forces in the Philippines — even if those forces are classified as rotating through and not permanently based there. But Ruan Zongze, a prominent Chinese diplomat who is a vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, a research organization in Beijing financed by the Foreign Ministry, said in a telephone interview that the Chinese government would not be pleased by the prospect of more American forces in the Philippines — even if those forces are classified as rotating through and not permanently based there.
“It happens against the backdrop of China-Philippines disputes,” he said. “Any of these measures taken by the United States will be taken by the Chinese as support for Manila. This rotation can be sort of permanent.”“It happens against the backdrop of China-Philippines disputes,” he said. “Any of these measures taken by the United States will be taken by the Chinese as support for Manila. This rotation can be sort of permanent.”
The United States closed two large bases and four small ones in the Philippines in 1991 and 1992, under pressure from Philippine nationalists who objected to the continued presence of American forces after the Cold War had ended. Steven Rood of the Asia Foundation, a nonprofit development group based in San Francisco, said it was important for domestic political reasons in the Philippines that any added American troops not appear to be permanently stationed in the country.The United States closed two large bases and four small ones in the Philippines in 1991 and 1992, under pressure from Philippine nationalists who objected to the continued presence of American forces after the Cold War had ended. Steven Rood of the Asia Foundation, a nonprofit development group based in San Francisco, said it was important for domestic political reasons in the Philippines that any added American troops not appear to be permanently stationed in the country.
While surveys in the Philippines have shown for a decade that the general public would welcome a return of American forces, the country’s decision makers and opinion leaders have begun to come around to that view only in the last couple of years, as rising tensions with China prompted them to reconsider their lingering aversion to an expanded American military footprint.While surveys in the Philippines have shown for a decade that the general public would welcome a return of American forces, the country’s decision makers and opinion leaders have begun to come around to that view only in the last couple of years, as rising tensions with China prompted them to reconsider their lingering aversion to an expanded American military footprint.
So the arrangement “needs to be demonstrably a Philippines base that has an American presence, rather than an American base embedded in a Philippines base,” Mr. Rood said.So the arrangement “needs to be demonstrably a Philippines base that has an American presence, rather than an American base embedded in a Philippines base,” Mr. Rood said.
The challenge for the United States lies in how to make the Philippines confident that it can stand up to China in territorial disputes, without emboldening Philippine nationalists to pick fights with their much larger neighbor.The challenge for the United States lies in how to make the Philippines confident that it can stand up to China in territorial disputes, without emboldening Philippine nationalists to pick fights with their much larger neighbor.
As a vibrant but sometimes tumultuous democracy, the Philippines has a wide spectrum of political views. The Chinese government has sometimes outspokenly condemned the more assertive comments made by politicians in Manila, even as it pursued a more confrontational policy of its own, sending vessels to assert ever more control over islets, coral atolls and even semi-submerged rocks in the South China Sea that the countries each claim.As a vibrant but sometimes tumultuous democracy, the Philippines has a wide spectrum of political views. The Chinese government has sometimes outspokenly condemned the more assertive comments made by politicians in Manila, even as it pursued a more confrontational policy of its own, sending vessels to assert ever more control over islets, coral atolls and even semi-submerged rocks in the South China Sea that the countries each claim.