LETHALFORCE
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Chinese daily calls for 'small-scale war' against Philippines
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LETHALFORCE
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US affirms it will stand by PH in case of war | Inquirer News
US affirms it will stand by PH in case of war
MANILA, Philippines—The United States will definitely stand by the Philippines in the event of an armed conflict with China over the Spratly islands, the US Embassy in Manila said.
Asserting Washington's position on the issue, embassy spokesperson Rebecca Thompson on Tuesday quoted from a portion of US Ambassador to Manila Harry Thomas Jr.'s speech delivered last week on board the USS Carl Vinson which was visiting Manila.
In his remarks, Thomas had said: "Now and in the future, we will maintain our strong relationship, and we are dedicated to being your partner whenever you are in harm's way"¦ this is a commitment born of our shared histories and close ties, and we are proud to stand by your side."
The Inquirer had asked Thompson to comment on Sen. Joker Arroyo's statement made over the weekend that the Philippines could not count on the US to go to war with China over the Spratly islands.
Arroyo told a radio interview that in the face of intrusions by supposed Chinese fighter jets in the vicinity of the island chain, the Philippines could only rely on its own military if a row with China erupted.
Despite the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)—which governs the conduct of American troops temporarily in the country—Arroyo said the US has not issued any words of caution to China over the disputed islands.
He said "the US will not go to war [along] with us. What we get is only the assurance of the US ambassador, but the words of the ambassador amount to nothing."
He had added: "We have to defend ourselves and not think that America will defend us."
The Department of Foreign Affairs did not comment on the issue.
For its part, the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said Thomas was "most probably just trying to justify the VFA."
Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said "it would take more than an assurance from the envoy before the US declares war on another country like China."
Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino said "only a naive person or someone who is ignorant of history will believe (Thomas)."
"He shouldn't issue such false and patronizing statements," Palatino said, noting that "the US will support a country based on its own strategic and geopolitical interests and not out of special affection for a country it used to colonize."
The reputedly oil-rich Spratlys chain of islands is being claimed in whole or in part by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
US affirms it will stand by PH in case of war
MANILA, Philippines—The United States will definitely stand by the Philippines in the event of an armed conflict with China over the Spratly islands, the US Embassy in Manila said.
Asserting Washington's position on the issue, embassy spokesperson Rebecca Thompson on Tuesday quoted from a portion of US Ambassador to Manila Harry Thomas Jr.'s speech delivered last week on board the USS Carl Vinson which was visiting Manila.
In his remarks, Thomas had said: "Now and in the future, we will maintain our strong relationship, and we are dedicated to being your partner whenever you are in harm's way"¦ this is a commitment born of our shared histories and close ties, and we are proud to stand by your side."
The Inquirer had asked Thompson to comment on Sen. Joker Arroyo's statement made over the weekend that the Philippines could not count on the US to go to war with China over the Spratly islands.
Arroyo told a radio interview that in the face of intrusions by supposed Chinese fighter jets in the vicinity of the island chain, the Philippines could only rely on its own military if a row with China erupted.
Despite the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)—which governs the conduct of American troops temporarily in the country—Arroyo said the US has not issued any words of caution to China over the disputed islands.
He said "the US will not go to war [along] with us. What we get is only the assurance of the US ambassador, but the words of the ambassador amount to nothing."
He had added: "We have to defend ourselves and not think that America will defend us."
The Department of Foreign Affairs did not comment on the issue.
For its part, the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said Thomas was "most probably just trying to justify the VFA."
Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said "it would take more than an assurance from the envoy before the US declares war on another country like China."
Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino said "only a naive person or someone who is ignorant of history will believe (Thomas)."
"He shouldn't issue such false and patronizing statements," Palatino said, noting that "the US will support a country based on its own strategic and geopolitical interests and not out of special affection for a country it used to colonize."
The reputedly oil-rich Spratlys chain of islands is being claimed in whole or in part by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
LETHALFORCE
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US-Philippines play war in China’s backyard | euronews, world news
US-Philippines play war in China's backyard
US-Philippines play war in China's backyard
yes media often exaggerate everything. but both country are not stupid, both are prepare for war, but unlikely to start a war. just like cold war, a direct confrontation never happened. both nation will keep the status quo. just like cold war, US prepare for wars, even nuclear wars, even at the height of cuba crisis, both avoid the war. today US has much closer relationship with china. biggest trade partner, all US corporation has factory, R&D, etc etc in china. these just make even more diffcult to start a war.
for every article about china/US war, there are dozen ariticle about how unlikely a war between US/china.
How likely is a future war between the US and China
U.S. War with China Not Likely but Steps Needed to Keep the Peace | RAND
http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/is3002_pp007-045_friedberg.pdf
Will China's Rise Lead to War? | Foreign Affairs
if you belief US will start a war with china due to slightest conflict in SCS between china/philippine. thats your opinion.
me, i doubt US will start war with china unless, china act much more aggressive, invade taiwan or phillipine. even then its a limited conflict to that region, not a full scale war.
yes there are excerise between US and philippine etc, but thats about it. it does not mean they start a war next day. its all for prepare for the worst case.
could there be a war between US and china, sure, but the chance of that is so small right now, about the same chance i win a multi-million lottery.
did china said they will invade philippine ? no. did they said they will attack philippine? no. did they say they like to solve the disputed via diploymacy? yes.
Last edited:
LETHALFORCE
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Since you are so sure of what USA will do attack these countries.
trackwhack
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USA will not start a war, China will and then China will get spanked like a street whore.
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@ s002wjh
So you are saying this media Talk is all hogwash and that China will not attack Phillipines?
Thats what i said too- Barking dogs Seldom bite- Now hit the Like button
:bounce:
So you are saying this media Talk is all hogwash and that China will not attack Phillipines?
Thats what i said too- Barking dogs Seldom bite- Now hit the Like button
:bounce:
LETHALFORCE
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US, Vietnam hold joint naval drills amid China tensions - Trend
US, Vietnam hold joint naval drills amid China tensions
The United States and Vietnam began joint naval exercises Monday off the coastal town of Da Nang as a territorial dispute with China simmers, DPA reported.
About 1,400 US personnel are taking part in the week-long event, the third of its kind since 2010, Lieutenant Commander Mike Morley said.
The drills come as the Philippines and the US enter the second week of war games in that South-East Asian country. China warned that the timing of the exercises could provoke armed confrontation amid the dispute over waters near the Scarborough Shoal.
Morley denied any significance in the timing of the exercises in Vietnam.
"The two are completely unrelated," he said. "The exercise in Vietnam was coordinated about one year ago.
"We have seen since the US and Vietnam normalized relations several years ago there is a steady progression every year in those relations growing stronger and the countries growing closer," he said.
Beijing complained about last year's drills in Vietnam. They came shortly after Vietnam and the Philippines accused China of disrupting energy exploration in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
China lays claim to the entire sea, which straddles key shipping lanes in the region and is believed to be rich in resources. Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims to the area.
The US has said it has a national interest in promoting freedom of navigation in the sea.
US, Vietnam hold joint naval drills amid China tensions
The United States and Vietnam began joint naval exercises Monday off the coastal town of Da Nang as a territorial dispute with China simmers, DPA reported.
About 1,400 US personnel are taking part in the week-long event, the third of its kind since 2010, Lieutenant Commander Mike Morley said.
The drills come as the Philippines and the US enter the second week of war games in that South-East Asian country. China warned that the timing of the exercises could provoke armed confrontation amid the dispute over waters near the Scarborough Shoal.
Morley denied any significance in the timing of the exercises in Vietnam.
"The two are completely unrelated," he said. "The exercise in Vietnam was coordinated about one year ago.
"We have seen since the US and Vietnam normalized relations several years ago there is a steady progression every year in those relations growing stronger and the countries growing closer," he said.
Beijing complained about last year's drills in Vietnam. They came shortly after Vietnam and the Philippines accused China of disrupting energy exploration in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
China lays claim to the entire sea, which straddles key shipping lanes in the region and is believed to be rich in resources. Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims to the area.
The US has said it has a national interest in promoting freedom of navigation in the sea.
LETHALFORCE
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Philippine, U.S. forces hold 1st gas field protection exerciseï¼ æ¯Žæ—¥ï½Šï½(毎日新èž)
Philippine, U.S. forces hold 1st gas field protection exercise
PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines (Kyodo) -- Philippine and U.S. forces have held an unprecedented joint exercise to practice retaking offshore natural gas and oil platforms that have been seized, military officials of the two countries said Sunday.
The scenario was rehearsed Thursday and executed Friday at two operational platforms of the Malampaya Gas Field off the northern coast of Palawan Island, as part of the Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) annual joint military exercises being held April 16-27.
Commodore Alexander Lopez, who commands Philippine forces tasked with protecting the gas field, said the platform recovery exercise is relevant in light of China's aggressive moves in the disputed South China Sea.
Last year, he noted, a Philippine energy exploration team was harassed by Chinese vessels near Philippine-claimed Reed Bank which is believed to contain large amount of oil deposits and other marine resources.
As many as 70 personnel from the Philippine and U.S. armed forces took part in the exercise, with the latter utilizing its Chinook helicopters to transport the participating personnel, said Rear Adm. Victor Emmanuel Martir, exercise director from the Philippine side.
''It was more of a takeover scenario by terrorists...and then, our forces retake it,'' Lopez said.
Martir underscored the relevance of the exercise, citing the Philippine government's ongoing plan to conduct oil and natural gas exploration activities in Philippines-claimed areas of the South China Sea.
''Whenever we will be putting up platforms, the armed forces are ready...We are the ones who will respond...together with the coast guard,'' he said.
U.S. military officials said the inclusion of the gas-oil platform recovery exercise in this year's Balikatan was also in response to the BP oil rig explosion and spill incidents in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago.
''The gas-oil platforms are everywhere around the world. It's responsible that we know how to do those kind of activities,'' said Lt. Gen. Duane Thiessen, commander of the Hawaii-based Marines Forces Pacific.
The Malampaya gas field commenced natural gas production in 2001, generating 2,700 megawatts of power for the main island Luzon.
More explorations for gas and oil in various parts of the country, including in the South China Sea, are expected to begin next year.
Philippine, U.S. forces hold 1st gas field protection exercise
PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines (Kyodo) -- Philippine and U.S. forces have held an unprecedented joint exercise to practice retaking offshore natural gas and oil platforms that have been seized, military officials of the two countries said Sunday.
The scenario was rehearsed Thursday and executed Friday at two operational platforms of the Malampaya Gas Field off the northern coast of Palawan Island, as part of the Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) annual joint military exercises being held April 16-27.
Commodore Alexander Lopez, who commands Philippine forces tasked with protecting the gas field, said the platform recovery exercise is relevant in light of China's aggressive moves in the disputed South China Sea.
Last year, he noted, a Philippine energy exploration team was harassed by Chinese vessels near Philippine-claimed Reed Bank which is believed to contain large amount of oil deposits and other marine resources.
As many as 70 personnel from the Philippine and U.S. armed forces took part in the exercise, with the latter utilizing its Chinook helicopters to transport the participating personnel, said Rear Adm. Victor Emmanuel Martir, exercise director from the Philippine side.
''It was more of a takeover scenario by terrorists...and then, our forces retake it,'' Lopez said.
Martir underscored the relevance of the exercise, citing the Philippine government's ongoing plan to conduct oil and natural gas exploration activities in Philippines-claimed areas of the South China Sea.
''Whenever we will be putting up platforms, the armed forces are ready...We are the ones who will respond...together with the coast guard,'' he said.
U.S. military officials said the inclusion of the gas-oil platform recovery exercise in this year's Balikatan was also in response to the BP oil rig explosion and spill incidents in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago.
''The gas-oil platforms are everywhere around the world. It's responsible that we know how to do those kind of activities,'' said Lt. Gen. Duane Thiessen, commander of the Hawaii-based Marines Forces Pacific.
The Malampaya gas field commenced natural gas production in 2001, generating 2,700 megawatts of power for the main island Luzon.
More explorations for gas and oil in various parts of the country, including in the South China Sea, are expected to begin next year.
Nope.. they need to get china out of the picture first.. then there will be chance for a fruitfull talk!
agree, ASEAN nations can easily cooperate with each other. But first taking care of the pest is the main concern to make that thing happen.
Beacuse The host was Cambodia, who is a pet of China. They invited China so it can court other ASEAN nations and to make sure the Philippines shut up about the SCS dispute. But the Philippines never did so the Chinese General present in the meeting muttered like a kid, flew immediately back to China and started whinning about it and issued some (serious?) ultimatums.
Global Times is known for being hawkish and the editorial board starts looking outward whenever there is internal disturbances. How do they define small war. Are they talking about sinking fishing boats of Philippines and than sit back wait for counter attack? It will encourage all the countries to speed up the arm race and help them form a joint military strategy as well. USA will also send their assets in the area and might also secure a navy and military base of Vietnams territory. They have already held the talks on this subject. At the end of the day China has more to loose economically since the production of consumer goods can be and will be shifted to other nations.
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US wades into China-Philippine standoff
By Al Labita
MANILA - China has beefed up its naval might around the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, threatening a clash as the United States and Philippines hold joint military exercises in the vicinity of the potentially energy rich disputed maritime territory.
In a show of force, a state-of-the-art Chinese vessel, the Yuzheng 310, is now on patrol near the Scarborough Shoal, raising the strategic ante as its maritime standoff with the Philippines heads into a second week. Certain news reports have suggested as many as five other Chinese patrol vessels are now in the area.
In contrast, a lone US-made Philippine Coast Guard ship
remains on alert in a lopsided faceoff with the Chinese fleet, while Manila's other warships joined the two-week joint drills, known as Balikatan (shoulder to shoulder) the US is leading near the contested islands.
The US has deployed 4,500 marines, the bulk of them from its military base in Okinawa, Japan, and battleships in the biggest contingent since the joint war games began in 1983.
In an unprecedented exercise held near the Philippine island of Palawan on April 19, US and Philippine forces rehearsed retaking seized offshore oil and natural gas platforms. Philippine officials said the exercise was relevant in the context of Chinese harassment of energy exploration teams last year near the contested Reed Bank.
The US has issued assurances that the combined military exercise is not aimed at any country or rising territorial tensions. China, however, clearly remains wary. A recent Chinese military paper has warned that the US-Philippine joint exercises increase the potential for an armed confrontation in the region.
Slated to run from April 16 to 27, the two-week military maneuver has been joined for the first time by Manila's partners in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, Australia and South Korea.
Manila is fielding 2,300 troops for the exercise, now seen as a key component of its mutual defense treaty (MDT) with Washington. Signed in 1951, the treaty will be up for review during the so-called 2+2 meeting of the two sides' defense and foreign affairs secretaries held on April 28-29 in Washington.
The exercise and confrontation come amid calls for scrapping the MDT by the political opposition. Leftist groups recently stormed the US embassy in Manila and held protests in Zamboanga City, both denouncing the war games as "provocative" at a time the Philippines tries to use peaceful dialogue with China to settle the territorial row.
The Washington meeting, expected to tackle China's rising use of force in dealing with other Spratly Islands claimants, including the Philippines and Vietnam, will precede a one-on-one meeting between US President Barack Obama and Philippine president Benigno Aquino.
Obama invited Aquino for a meeting during the ASEAN summit held in Jakarta last November. In his talks with Obama, Aquino is expected to press for more sophisticated military wares from the US to bolster their strategic alliance.
"We need more naval and air assets to protect our own territory," Philippine military chief General Jesse Dellosa recently said. "The whole world knows that China has myriad more ships and aircraft than the Philippines."
In a move that will boost the Philippines' external defense capability, Washington has already agreed to turn over to the Philippine Navy next month a second warship, the refurbished US Coast Guard cutter Dallas.
The BRP Gregorio del Pilar was turned over by the US Coast Guard to the Philippine Navy last December. Now the country's biggest warship, it was deployed on April 10 in a bid to stop Chinese fishermen from allegedly poaching in the Philippine-claimed shoal off the Spratlys. Chinese surveillance vessels were soon thereafter deployed, sparking the ongoing standoff.
The Scarborough Shoal, situated 124 nautical miles from the nearest base-point in Subic, north of Manila, is within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines. It is about 740 miles from China's nearest point in Hainan province.
In his talks with Obama, Aquino is expected to offer the Philippine military's western command base in Palawan, west of Manila, to accommodate US forces, though its unclear how such a move would skirt the Philippine constitutional ban on foreign-run military bases in the country.
Palawan, west of Manila, faces the Spratly islands and hosts some oil-producing wells now operated by Dutch multinational Shell. China has challenged Philippine sovereignty over the area by harassing domestic exploration vessels and pressuring foreign energy firms given Philippine permission to explore in the area.
Strategic alliance
The US had kept mum on the latest confrontation plaguing the potentially oil and gas-rich Spratlys, a maritime region Manila refers to as its west Philippine Sea.
Over the weekend, however, US Commander of the Marines in the Pacific, Lieutenant General Duane Thiessen, reaffirmed the US's commitment to the MDT in response to a question about whether the US would provide assistance in a scenario where Chinese forces attacked Philippine units at Scarborough Shoal.
"The United States and the Philippines have a mutual defense treaty which guarantees that we get involved in each other's defense and that is self explanatory," he told reporters in Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has tried to drum up international support for his country's position in the latest dispute. He has touched on the same freedom of navigation themes the US has mentioned in previous statements on the wider Spratlys dispute.
China, on the other hand, has consistently said it will resist any US attempts to contain its ambitions in the region. While war over Scarborough Shoal seems remote, the maritime region faces more instability as fears rise the US and China could square off in a proxy battle for influence in the months ahead.
Beijing has remained intransigent to Manila's repeated calls for a peaceful approach to the standoff. Aquino has opposed openly going to war with China, saying "it will not serve us any good at a time that we are trying to de-escalate the situation."
While Aquino said his government was ready to protect the country's sovereignty "to the limits of our capabilities," he acknowledged that the Philippines lacks the resources to confront the Chinese. "Even in boxing, they are 1.3 billion, we are 95 million," he said.
But fears that the situation could eventually erupt are mounting as the Philippines and China refuse to budge and the US openly wades into the troubled waters. Though both sides have resorted to diplomacy and confidence building measures to ease tensions, talks towards a settlement on the claims have repeatedly crumbled.
China now appears to favor gunboat diplomacy. Chinese officials have publicly noted how weak the Philippines is in terms of military assets among the six claimants to the potentially energy rich Spratlys. Apart from Vietnam, the other claimants are Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.
Amid that muscle flexing, Beijing turned down Manila's latest proposal to raise their dispute before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). Based in Germany, ITLOS is an independent judicial body established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that serves as mediator for disputes arising out of the Convention.
"At day's end, however, we hope to demonstrate that international law would be the great equalizer," Philippine foreign secretary del Rosario recently said.
Beijing, on the other hand, has remained steadfast in its preference for bilateral negotiations with Manila. It continues to insist that the Spratlys have belonged to China since ancient times and is now showing it has the modern firepower to stake those claims.
"Ever since the ancient times, numerous documents on the Chinese history have put down definitely in writing that Huangyan Island belongs to Chinese territory," the Chinese embassy in Manila said in a statement issued in response to the recent standoff.
Huangyan refers to the Philippine-claimed Scarborough Shoal where the two sides are now squared off and the US is provocatively in the middle.
http://http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ND24Ae01.html
can we trust US.
By Al Labita
MANILA - China has beefed up its naval might around the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, threatening a clash as the United States and Philippines hold joint military exercises in the vicinity of the potentially energy rich disputed maritime territory.
In a show of force, a state-of-the-art Chinese vessel, the Yuzheng 310, is now on patrol near the Scarborough Shoal, raising the strategic ante as its maritime standoff with the Philippines heads into a second week. Certain news reports have suggested as many as five other Chinese patrol vessels are now in the area.
In contrast, a lone US-made Philippine Coast Guard ship
remains on alert in a lopsided faceoff with the Chinese fleet, while Manila's other warships joined the two-week joint drills, known as Balikatan (shoulder to shoulder) the US is leading near the contested islands.
The US has deployed 4,500 marines, the bulk of them from its military base in Okinawa, Japan, and battleships in the biggest contingent since the joint war games began in 1983.
In an unprecedented exercise held near the Philippine island of Palawan on April 19, US and Philippine forces rehearsed retaking seized offshore oil and natural gas platforms. Philippine officials said the exercise was relevant in the context of Chinese harassment of energy exploration teams last year near the contested Reed Bank.
The US has issued assurances that the combined military exercise is not aimed at any country or rising territorial tensions. China, however, clearly remains wary. A recent Chinese military paper has warned that the US-Philippine joint exercises increase the potential for an armed confrontation in the region.
Slated to run from April 16 to 27, the two-week military maneuver has been joined for the first time by Manila's partners in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, Australia and South Korea.
Manila is fielding 2,300 troops for the exercise, now seen as a key component of its mutual defense treaty (MDT) with Washington. Signed in 1951, the treaty will be up for review during the so-called 2+2 meeting of the two sides' defense and foreign affairs secretaries held on April 28-29 in Washington.
The exercise and confrontation come amid calls for scrapping the MDT by the political opposition. Leftist groups recently stormed the US embassy in Manila and held protests in Zamboanga City, both denouncing the war games as "provocative" at a time the Philippines tries to use peaceful dialogue with China to settle the territorial row.
The Washington meeting, expected to tackle China's rising use of force in dealing with other Spratly Islands claimants, including the Philippines and Vietnam, will precede a one-on-one meeting between US President Barack Obama and Philippine president Benigno Aquino.
Obama invited Aquino for a meeting during the ASEAN summit held in Jakarta last November. In his talks with Obama, Aquino is expected to press for more sophisticated military wares from the US to bolster their strategic alliance.
"We need more naval and air assets to protect our own territory," Philippine military chief General Jesse Dellosa recently said. "The whole world knows that China has myriad more ships and aircraft than the Philippines."
In a move that will boost the Philippines' external defense capability, Washington has already agreed to turn over to the Philippine Navy next month a second warship, the refurbished US Coast Guard cutter Dallas.
The BRP Gregorio del Pilar was turned over by the US Coast Guard to the Philippine Navy last December. Now the country's biggest warship, it was deployed on April 10 in a bid to stop Chinese fishermen from allegedly poaching in the Philippine-claimed shoal off the Spratlys. Chinese surveillance vessels were soon thereafter deployed, sparking the ongoing standoff.
The Scarborough Shoal, situated 124 nautical miles from the nearest base-point in Subic, north of Manila, is within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines. It is about 740 miles from China's nearest point in Hainan province.
In his talks with Obama, Aquino is expected to offer the Philippine military's western command base in Palawan, west of Manila, to accommodate US forces, though its unclear how such a move would skirt the Philippine constitutional ban on foreign-run military bases in the country.
Palawan, west of Manila, faces the Spratly islands and hosts some oil-producing wells now operated by Dutch multinational Shell. China has challenged Philippine sovereignty over the area by harassing domestic exploration vessels and pressuring foreign energy firms given Philippine permission to explore in the area.
Strategic alliance
The US had kept mum on the latest confrontation plaguing the potentially oil and gas-rich Spratlys, a maritime region Manila refers to as its west Philippine Sea.
Over the weekend, however, US Commander of the Marines in the Pacific, Lieutenant General Duane Thiessen, reaffirmed the US's commitment to the MDT in response to a question about whether the US would provide assistance in a scenario where Chinese forces attacked Philippine units at Scarborough Shoal.
"The United States and the Philippines have a mutual defense treaty which guarantees that we get involved in each other's defense and that is self explanatory," he told reporters in Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has tried to drum up international support for his country's position in the latest dispute. He has touched on the same freedom of navigation themes the US has mentioned in previous statements on the wider Spratlys dispute.
China, on the other hand, has consistently said it will resist any US attempts to contain its ambitions in the region. While war over Scarborough Shoal seems remote, the maritime region faces more instability as fears rise the US and China could square off in a proxy battle for influence in the months ahead.
Beijing has remained intransigent to Manila's repeated calls for a peaceful approach to the standoff. Aquino has opposed openly going to war with China, saying "it will not serve us any good at a time that we are trying to de-escalate the situation."
While Aquino said his government was ready to protect the country's sovereignty "to the limits of our capabilities," he acknowledged that the Philippines lacks the resources to confront the Chinese. "Even in boxing, they are 1.3 billion, we are 95 million," he said.
But fears that the situation could eventually erupt are mounting as the Philippines and China refuse to budge and the US openly wades into the troubled waters. Though both sides have resorted to diplomacy and confidence building measures to ease tensions, talks towards a settlement on the claims have repeatedly crumbled.
China now appears to favor gunboat diplomacy. Chinese officials have publicly noted how weak the Philippines is in terms of military assets among the six claimants to the potentially energy rich Spratlys. Apart from Vietnam, the other claimants are Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.
Amid that muscle flexing, Beijing turned down Manila's latest proposal to raise their dispute before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). Based in Germany, ITLOS is an independent judicial body established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that serves as mediator for disputes arising out of the Convention.
"At day's end, however, we hope to demonstrate that international law would be the great equalizer," Philippine foreign secretary del Rosario recently said.
Beijing, on the other hand, has remained steadfast in its preference for bilateral negotiations with Manila. It continues to insist that the Spratlys have belonged to China since ancient times and is now showing it has the modern firepower to stake those claims.
"Ever since the ancient times, numerous documents on the Chinese history have put down definitely in writing that Huangyan Island belongs to Chinese territory," the Chinese embassy in Manila said in a statement issued in response to the recent standoff.
Huangyan refers to the Philippine-claimed Scarborough Shoal where the two sides are now squared off and the US is provocatively in the middle.
http://http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ND24Ae01.html
can we trust US.
Folk hero
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how long are we going to stay in the background global politics when will we rise to higher stage of global politics how long will it take us to recognize that we are also one of the global powers 
for how long will let US steal our spotlight, it should be us (Indian) conducting joint military exercises with ASEAN, and the reasons like that we did not got permanent security council seat at UN.
for how long will let US steal our spotlight, it should be us (Indian) conducting joint military exercises with ASEAN, and the reasons like that we did not got permanent security council seat at UN.trackwhack
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Wont it be awesome if the Chinese take on a US aircraft carrier. I wont be too unhappy to see the Chinese navy blown back to the 15th century in a matter of days.
i dont know whats the deals with some of the forum member here. thrive on chaos, and hoping for a war in SCS, which could destroy countries in that region. so not sure why would anybody hope for that, other than a warmonger.
are you that naive. why the heck china would start a war to drag US into it? if any recent chinese activities indicate, is the opposite.
