southeast asia

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Manila vows to defend sovereignty over Spratlys By Bernice Camille V. Bauzon, Reporter UNITED States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday (Friday in Manila) said that Washington was "determined and committed" to support Manila, even if it meant providing "affordable" material and equipment that would assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines "to take the steps necessary to defend itself." Malacañang on Friday responded to Clinton's remarks by saying in a statement that it welcomed "the renewed commitment of" the Philippines and the United States "to a peaceful, stable, environment in the region and to a multilateral approach to resolving issues." During a joint press conference with visiting Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and fresh from their meeting in Washington, D.C., Clinton reaffirmed her country's defense commitment to the Philippines, which vowed to "stand up to aggressive action" amid rising tensions between Manila and Beijing over the disputed Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). "We are determined and committed to supporting the defense of the Philippines," the US Secretary of State said. She added that Manila and Washington were working "to determine what are the additional assets that the Philippines needs and how we can best provide those." Del Rosario said in turn that Manila was ready to protect its sovereignty over the Philippine-claimed part of the disputed sea. "[Although] we are a small country, we are prepared to do what is necessary to stand up to any aggressive action in our backyard," he added. The Philippines recently announced deployment to the disputed waters of its Navy flagship, the Rajah Humabon, a former US Navy frigate that served during World War II. Manila has historically bought second-hand hardware but del Rosario said that President Benigno Aquino 3rd has allocated P11 billion ($252 million) to upgrade the Philippine Navy. Shortly ahead of his talks with Clinton, del Rosario said that the Philippines was asking the United States for "an operational lease so that we can look at fairly new equipment and be able to get our hands on that quickly." According to the Foreign Affairs chief, Manila "has made clear its position on the issue: to maintain peace while allowing for the economic development of the area." "There is a need to segregate the non-disputed areas from the disputed [ones]. What is ours is ours, and what is disputed can be shared," he said. Clinton, meanwhile, emphasized Washington's determination to see a peaceful resolution to the multi-nation dispute over the Spratlys and their adjacent waters through the United Nations (UN) Convention of the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) and the 2002 Declaration on the Code of Conduct between China and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (Asean). The contested island group— believed to be rich in oil and mineral reserves—and its adjacent waters are being claimed in whole by China and in part by Taiwan and Asean members Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Other members of the regional bloc are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. Over the past few weeks, there had been escalating tensions in the contested waters as the Philippines, Vietnam and China traded accusations and barbs. "We support resolving disputes through a collaborative diplomatic presence and process without coercion," Clinton said. "The United States does not take sides on territorial disputes over land features in the South China Sea, but we oppose the use of force or the threat of force to advance the claims of any party," she added. Defense treaty The US top diplomat underscored Manila and Washington's now-60-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), which calls on each country to help defend the other against external attacks. "The United States honors our Mutual Defense Treaty and our strategic alliance with the Philippines," Clinton said, negating the need to ...