China wary as US pushes into Asia-US increase troops in Phillipines

[amoy]

What more shall I have to have full grasp of??? Your last sentence sounds like asking for a repetition of 1988 Johnson South Reef Skirmish which resulted in more than 70 Vietnamese deaths

MANILA, Philippines, September 13 – War officially came to southern Philippines again as the government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo dissolved the government peace panel, unilaterally putting an end to eleven years of negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) September 3. Three days later, as AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) task forces launched sweeps searching for MILF units in Central Mindanao Region, rockets from a helicopter gunship killed fleeing civilians including two children and a pregnant newly wed teenager (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 9 September). While left-wing groups, opposition legislators and Muslim scholars denounced the government for calling off peace talks, reports came in of U.S. Special Forces soldiers accompanying AFP patrols. From a few hundred American soldiers in 2001, the number of U.S. troops in the Philippines grew to over 5,000 participating in the "Balikatan 2006" maneuvers on the southern island of Jolo. After the maneuvers were over, they never left. Congressional committees are investigating whether this violated the Visiting Forces Agreement.

Fighting already broke out last month when government officials suddenly refused to sign a Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain that had been negotiated with the MILF. The agreement was to have set up an autonomous regional "entity" in traditionally Bangsamoro areas1. The MOA was due to be signed at a ceremony on August 5, but at the last minute Arroyo called it off citing an injunction by her kept Supreme Court. What actually happened was that military hard-liners in the government negotiating team leaked the contents of the agreement to the press, touching off an uproar among Christian local officials in areas that were to be included in the Bangsamoro Judicial Entity (BJE), whereupon the high court issued its injunction. Angry commanders of the MILF's military forces then proceeded to occupy areas which would have been included in the BJE, while right-wing local officials announced a "Reformed Ilaga Movement" to hunt down rebels. (The dreaded Ilaga vigilantes terrorized Muslims and left-wing activists during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.)

At least 100 people have been killed so far in the renewed fighting, hundreds more injured and 500,000 displaced from their homes as a result of clashes between AFP and MILF forces, as well as reciprocal burning of Christian and Muslim villages and communal massacres. While the press screams about MILF atrocities, it is the capitalist government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that is responsible for setting Filipino Christians and Muslims against each other. The AFP tops calculated on quickly wiping out the MILF forces, supposedly lulled into complaisance by eleven years of ceasefire, in order to then concentrate their forces against the guerrillas of the Communist-led New Peoples Army (NPA). Earlier, GMA and her militarist aides such as Eduardo Ermita and Norberto Gonzales had sought to use the Memorandum of Agreement to sneak through a "charter change" ("cha-cha") in the Constitution, allowing her to stay in office after her present term (won through rampant election fraud) runs out in 2010. But now that they have run into resistance, all their plans have all gone up in the smoke of battle.

 

[SADAKHUSH]

It must be something in the water in China that keeps you dreaming about land of your neighbours. As you have stated if we remember 1988, yes dude we do remember that is why noose around your neck by formation of military alliance in SCS. Once you PLA or CCP makes one wrong move we will be all over you.
There will be no second chance and my suggestion to you is stay with in your geographical boundaries before we shrink it further.

We in the world have many more challenges that to entertain your stupidity SCS Islets and reefs issue.

 

[Armand2REP]

Chicoms are shaking in their boots.

 

[ice berg]

It must be something in the water in China that keeps you dreaming about land of your neighbours. As you have stated if we remember 1988, yes dude we do remember that is why noose around your neck by formation of military alliance in SCS. Once you PLA or CCP makes one wrong move we will be all over you.
There will be no second chance and my suggestion to you is stay with in your geographical boundaries before we shrink it further.

We in the world have many more challenges that to entertain your stupidity SCS Islets and reefs issue.

I love your empty threats. LIke you got a shit to say in this matter. This is an internet forum. No need to work yourself up.

And 88? ROFL, do educate us. What happend in 88?

 

[Mad Indian]

China is slowly getting the noose tightened around them.

Probably its time China realized its not a very good idea for China to anger its neighbors at every turn possible....

 

[Mad Indian]

Good. Have u ever heard of Moro Islamic Liberation Front - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia in a semi-feudal semi-colonial Filipina?


I wonder why nobody on DFI ever named PH as a failed state ? Selective blindness?

And bluffing? Over SCS alone China had a few fights with VN already. And with PH? Forget Mischief Reef? Mischief Reef - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ya only small proactive fights and nothing more and thats what we call it as bluffing

 

[Mad Indian]

Why will the PLAAN sink Philippine tubs? The status quo suits the chinese. They are the one who are getting impatient. China got all the time in the world.

Ya thats why they are allying themselves with the DEMOCRACIES.... Care to explain how china can counter a full formation of its neighnours against her ass...???

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Exclusive: U.S. military seeks more access in Philippines | Reuters

U.S. military seeks more access in Philippines

(Reuters) - The United States is seeking more access to Philippines ports and airfields to re-fuel and service its warships and planes, diplomatic and military sources said on Thursday, expanding its presence at a time of tension with China in the South China Sea.

But it is not trying to reopen military bases there.

Washington's growing cooperation in the Philippines, a U.S. ally which voted to remove huge American naval and air bases 20 years ago, follows the U.S. announcement last year of plans to set up a Marine base in northern Australia and possibly station warships in Singapore.

It also coincides with diplomatic and military friction in the South China Sea and its oil-rich Spratly Islands, which are subject to disputed claims by China, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations.

Last month, senior Philippine defense and foreign affairs officials met their U.S. counterparts in Washington to discuss ways to increase the number and frequency of joint exercises, training, ship and aircraft visits and other activities.

"It's access, not bases," a foreign affairs department official familiar with the strategic dialogue told Reuters.

"Our talks focus on strengthening cooperation on military and non-military activities, such as disaster response and humanitarian assistance, counter-terrorism, non-proliferation. There were no discussions about new U.S. bases," he said.

These activities would allow the U.S. military more access in the Philippines, stretching its presence beyond local military facilities and training grounds into central Cebu province or to Batanes island near the northern borders with Taiwan.

U.S. ships and aircraft are seeking access for re-supply, re-fueling and repairs, not just for goodwill visits, exercises and training activities, the diplomat said.

The Philippines was ruled by the United States for nearly five decades between the departure of the Spanish and the Japanese occupation during the Second World War, and is now one of its foremost allies in Asia, despite expelling the U.S. from its former military bases at Clark and Subic Bay in 1992.

Since 1987, the Philippine constitution has explicitly banned a permanent foreign military presence. But Washington maintains close military ties under a 1951 defense treaty, and its special forces have been helping the Philippine military combat Islamic militants in the south of the country since 2002.

A Filipino diplomat said Washington's expanding presence is allowed under the under a 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement and a 2002 Mutual Logistics Support Agreement.

The issue is likely to be raised during a visit to Manila from Friday by U.S. Assistant Secretary Andrew Shapiro, senior advisor on political-military affairs to Secretary Hillary Clinton.

U.S. MILITARY "HARDWARE"

Apart from training and exercises, the two countries discussed U.S. military assistance, including equipment and data to enhance "domain awareness" in the South China Sea.

A second Hamilton-class cutter will be transferred to the Philippine Navy this year and a possible third second-hand cutter was also discussed, the diplomat added.

"On our side, we're also trying to explore ways on how to access newer U.S. military hardware through innovative financial schemes other than the usual channels," the foreign affairs official said.

Military sources said Manila was studying leasing newer offshore patrol vessels, larger sealift and support vessels and lead-in fighter trainer aircraft.

Last month, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told reporters Manila is also considering a proposal from the United States Pacific Command to deploy P3C-Orion spy planes in the country to help monitor movements and activities in the South China Sea.

The disputed ownership of oil-rich reefs and islands in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in trade sails annually, is one of the biggest security threats in Asia. Beijing says it has historical sovereignty over the South China Sea, superseding claims of other countries.

Tension over the region and the U.S. plans to expand its military operations in the Asia-Pacific, long an issue with China, could well come up in talks when China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jingping visits Washington next week.

China has expressed misgivings about the Obama administration's shift to raise its security role in the region at a time when Beijing is expanding its own military reach.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Command's proposal to deploy spy planes came two months after State and Pentagon officials offered to share surveillance data on the South China Sea during talks with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario in June 2011.

Last year, Del Rosario repeatedly protested against China's activities and intrusions into Philippine maritime territories, including an attempt to ram a survey ship exploring oil and gas in the South China Sea. Manila had accused China's ships of crossing into its maritime borders nearly a dozen times in 2011.

The Philippines has welcomed plans by the United States to shift more attention in the Asia and Pacific region and senior officials said an expanded U.S. military presence could enhance peace and stability.

"For us, it would boost our deterrent capability to stop intrusions into our territories," said the diplomat.

 

[Ray]

Why will the PLAAN sink Philippine tubs? The status quo suits the chinese. They are the one who are getting impatient. China got all the time in the world.

The interesting part is that even the status quo where the Chinese were attempting to rule the waves has been given a rude shock and stopped in the tracks.