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| Southeast Asia | |
| Philippines, US stage war games in face of China warning | |
| 2012-04-26 | |
| ULUGAN BAY, Philippines: Hundreds of American and Philippine troops waded ashore on Wednesday in a mock assault to retake a small island in energy-rich waters disputed with China, a drill Beijing had said would raise the risk of armed conflict. The exercises, part of annual US-Philippine war games on the western island of Palawan, coincide with another standoff between Chinese and Philippine vessels near Scarborough Shoal in a different part of the South China Sea. China said last week the drill would raise the risk of confrontation. On Wednesday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said China was committed to dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the dispute. “We are certainly worried about the South China Sea issue,” Cui told a news briefing in Beijing, saying “some people tried to mix two unrelated things, territorial sovereignty and freedom of navigation.” The comments come before high-level talks with the Obama administration. China, which claims the South China Sea based on historical records, has sought to resolve disputes bilaterally but its neighbors worry over what some see as growing Chinese assertiveness in its claims in the region. “Location (of the drill) is irrelevant,” Ensign Bryan Mitchell, spokesman for the US Marines, told reporters. “These exercises take place on a regular basis. This year it happens to be in Palawan. The planning for this took place months ago prior to any events that are currently in the headlines.” US President Barack Obama has sought to reassure regional allies that Washington would serve as a counterbalance to China in the South China Sea, part of his campaign to “pivot” US foreign policy toward Asia after wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Philippine military officials sought to play down the exercise. Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, military commander for the western Philippines, said the drill “simply means we want to work together, improve our skills.” Sabban’s area of command includes Reed Bank and the Spratlys, a group of 250 mostly uninhabitable islets spread over 427,350 sq km (165,000 sq miles) west of Palawan. The Spratlys are claimed entirely by China, Taiwan and Vietnam and in part by Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
A Philippine exploration firm, Philex Petroleum Corp. , said on Tuesday its unit, Forum Energy Plc, had found more natural gas than expected around Reed Bank, where Chinese navy vessels tried to ram one of Forum Energy’s survey ships last year. The Philippines is due to open oil-and-gas exploration bids in Reed Bank on Friday. Sabban said the military drill was not focused on China. “Never was China ever mentioned in our planning and execution,” he told reporters. “China should not be worried about Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises.” Nearly 7,000 American and Philippine troops were launched from US and Philippine ships in the simulated amphibious assault to recapture an island supposedly taken by militants. Commandos came ashore from US and Philippine ships in a simulated amphibious assault to recapture an island supposedly taken by militants. Jumping from rubber boats as they hit the shore, the commandos engaged in a mock firefight, making their way inch by inch from the beach to a navy facility to rescue “hostages” and recapture the base. Four days ago, commando teams rappelled from US helicopters and landed from rubber boats in a mock assault to retake an oil rig in northern Palawan, 18 km (11 miles) off the town of El Nido on the South China Sea. The annual war games come under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, part of a web of security alliances the United States built in the Asia-Pacific region during the Cold War. The drills are a rehearsal of a mutual defense plan by the two allies to repel any aggression in the Philippines. Hundreds of kilometers to the north, a Philippine coast guard ship patrols near Scarborough Shoal, a group of half-submerged rock formations 124 nautical miles west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon. Philippine and Chinese ships are often in the same areas of the South China Sea, with two Chinese maritime surveillance ships a few miles away from the coast guard vessel and five Chinese fishing boats working the waters nearby. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 The area is classified as 'Southwest Asia". |
| Posted by: Pappy 2012-04-26 22:29 |
| #2 part of his campaign to "pivot" US foreign policy toward Asia after wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq and Afghanistan are in Asia. Oh, those brilliant minds at Reuters, what would we ever do without them? |
| Posted by: gromky 2012-04-26 03:15 |
| #1 Again, Zamboanaga Today Artic is claiming that the PHIL may had sold Scarborough Shoal [PHIL = Panatag] to China back during the Macapagal presidency 1961-1965, + that China has a "Deed of Sale" to same??? * ION WAFF > [AntiWar.com] US-JAPAN TO ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT ON TROOPS, MILITARY BASES. AS OBAMA'S "ASIA PIVOT" DEVELOPS, THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN [espec Okinawa] + GUAM HAVE ACTIVELY RESISTED AMERICAN OCCUPATION. Besides Guam + CNMI's Tinian, Tokyo would like JAPAN'S SDF to rotate + use what will likely be sovereign PHIL-controlled Milbases where US Units will also be rotationally camped [Trilateral Base-Sharing]. As per BLOOMBERG, at least 60% of the now-4000 US Marines coming to Guam from Okinawa will allegedly be "rotational", which IIUC infers Guam will only get NMT 1,600 Marines of the 4000 to be permanently based here - rest will be TDY only. IFF THE USDOD-MARINES ARE DOING WHAT I BELIEVE OR THINK THEY ARE DOING, GUAM MAY GET LESS THAN EVEN THE 1,600. We'll see, as the announcement has repor been delayed due to the concerns of the CODEL that visited Guam recently. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-04-26 00:31 |