MANILA - Twenty years after the Philippines voted to remove American
bases, it now wants to give US troops more access to its ports and
airfields.
Manila's moves to strengthen security ties with its former colonial
master coincide with the US foreign policy "pivot" towards Asia to
concentrate on, among other things, North Korea's nuclear ambitions and
China's military buildup.
China is likely to be high on the agenda at top level US-Philippine
security talks on Monday as Washington refocuses its foreign policy on
Asia and Manila realises its limits in trying to solve territorial
disputes with Beijing alone.
China has maritime spats with several countries in the South China
Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas and crossed by important
shipping lanes, and its neighbours fear its growing naval reach in
staking claims.
Those disputes are pushing the Philippines to seek closer cooperation
with the United States, which in turn has prompted China to warn
Washington against getting involved, denouncing last week's
US-Philippine military drills as bringing the risk of armed conflict
closer.
"I'm sure we need to be diplomatic, but I don't think we should
tip-toe around the Chinese on this," said Walter Lohman, director of the
Asian Studies Center with the conservative Washington-based Heritage
Foundation think tank.
"...There is nothing new about the U.S. exercising with the
Philippines. We shouldn't refrain because the Chinese don't like it. In
fact, I expect the (Washington meeting) will come up with some agreement
on increasing the frequency and variety of exercises, ship visits. Also
expect agreement on hardware, joint use of Philippines' training
facilities and bases."
The talks also coincide with a potential new source of tension
between Washington and Bejing after blind activist Chen Guangcheng was
reported late last week to have sought U.S. protection in the Chinese
capital after an audacious escape from 19 months under house arrest.
"We enjoy a really close military-to-military relationship with the
Philippines and I think certainly coming out of this two plus two, we'll
be looking for ways to improve and enhance that relationship," said
Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain John Kirby, referring to talks between
the defence and foreign secretaries, the highest-level security talks
yet between the two sides.
"But it is safe to say that ... our relationship with the Philippines
is part and parcel of the larger shift to focus on the Asia-Pacific."
A Philippine general familiar with the discussions to be held in
Washington said the United States had a list of airfields in the
Philippines that it could use for routine deployment of tankers,
fighters and transport planes.
"These are not new bases for the Americans, these are still our
facilities," said the general who declined to be identified. "They are
only asking us if we can share some of our idle space with them."
Kirby said the United States wanted to continue "a rotational and
training" relationship. "We're certainly not looking ... for permanent
basing there."
This is nevertheless a sensitive area for Philippine President
Benigno Aquino, some of whose political advisers are uncomfortable with
an expanding U.S. role.
The U.S. plan to use Philippine airports is not new. At the height of
U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the mid-2000s, Manila
allowed U.S. military planes to refuel at an airport in northernmost
Batanes province, close to Taiwan.
"We don't want them back, they create noise when most of us are
already asleep," Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad said of U.S.
transport planes landing at night in Basco airport.
Abad is one of Aquino's closest political advisers. Another political
adviser told Reuters Aquino would not allow a de facto basing
arrangement.
"That's a violation of our constitution," he said.
Philippine foreign and defence officials, however, will use the
Washington talks to try to get U.S. backing on its position in the South
China Sea, invoking freedom of navigation.
"I think we would want all nations, including the U.S., to make a
judgment as to what is happening there (in the South China Sea) and what
the implications are to their own security," Foreign Affairs Secretary
Albert del Rosario has said.
A retired Philippine flag officer said Washington, which is shuffling
and redeploying its forces around Asia, including in Japan and
Australia, wanted to rebuild the "air bridge" between Northeast and
Southeast Asia.
"They are trying to plug these holes when they left Clark in 1992,"
he said, referring to a former U.S. air base in the northern
Philippines. "They need airfields more than ports because most of their
tactical aircraft are based too far from potential hotspots in Southeast
Asia."
Richard Jacobson, of Pacific Strategies and Assessments, cautioned
both sides against playing the China card, saying he did not see naval
standoffs in the South China Sea as dramatic enough to improve
U.S.-Philippines relations.
"It appears more likely that any new strategic partnership will evolve gradually over time," Jacobson told Reuters.
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/InterAksyon.Com | April 30, 2012 | Article Link
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