U.S., Philippine Militaries Discussed China's `Assertiveness' at Meeting

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-18/u-s-philippine-militaries-discussed-china-s-assertiveness-at-meeting.htm

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U.S., Philippine Militaries Discussed China's `Assertiveness' at Meeting
By Cecilia Yap - Aug 18, 2010

U.S. and Philippine military officials discussed the “assertiveness” displayed by China in the South China Sea during a meeting in Manila today.

“It’s going to be a very important topic for all the regional nations to discuss,” U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral Robert Willard said at a press briefing. “It’s of national interest to the United States, so this will undoubtedly remain a topic of conversation for some time to come.”

China’s investment in “power projection capability and in area-denial capability” have become a concern to the U.S. and other countries in the region, Willard said. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month in Vietnam said resolving territorial disputes off China’s southern coast is “a leading diplomatic priority,” signaling her intention to intercede in a region claimed in full by the Chinese government.

The Philippines is among several countries that have claims in the potentially oil-rich Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The Chinese government considers almost the entire sea as its own, and has beefed up its military over the past decade, enhancing the capability to deter U.S. ships and enforce territorial claims off its shores.

The Philippines has “limited capability” in monitoring movements in the area and lawmakers must set aside funds for the modernization of the country’s military, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief Ricardo David said.

The US “very much looks forward to working continually” with the Philippine military to ensure it is “shaped just right to meet the needs of this very complex archipelago that’s located in a very strategic area of the world,” Willard said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cecilia Yap in Manila at cyap19@bloomberg.net

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http://news.scotsman.com/news/War-of-words-intensifies-as.6482693.jp
War of words intensifies as US and China clash over territorial claims

Published Date: 19 August 2010
By JIM GOMEZ
China has lashed out at a Pentagon report accusing its military of excessive secrecy, even as the head of United States' Pacific Command yesterday delivered a warning to Beijing by saying that the US will not stand by idle as the Asian giant asserts its contested territorial claims in the South China Sea.
• Chinese soldiers on manoeuvres in the Henan Province. A Pentagon report this week warned that Beijing was increasing its military capabilities Picture: AFP

A Pentagon report this week said Beijing was expanding its military advantage over Taiwan through measures like increasing the deadliness of its short-range ballistic missiles, while raising the risk of "misunderstanding and miscalculation".

Chinese Defence Ministry Spokesman Geng Yansheng said that the Pentagon's report gave an unreasonably sinister tinge to a normal military build-up, and exaggerated China's "so-called ... 'military threats'" towards Taiwan, the self-ruled island China considers its own, but which the US has vowed to defend in the event of attack.

"The US side's publication of this report is not beneficial to the improvement and development of Sino-US military ties," Mr Geng said in unusually strong language yesterday.

The Pentagon's annual report to Congress on China comes at a difficult time, as harsh words over the South China Sea have worsened already-strained military ties.

Admiral Robert Willard, head of the US Pacific Command, yesterday said the US military opposes the use of force by countries locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea and will maintain its presence in the strategic region for years to come.

China claims sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, which is strewn with disputed groups of islands, including the Spratly archipelago - also claimed in whole or in part by Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.

Adm Willard said Washington does not take sides in the disputes but added it will oppose any use "of force or forms of coercion to stake these claims on the part of any single nation at the expense of the others."

He said China's "assertive" behaviour in the South China Sea was on the agenda in annual defence talks in Manila this week with Philippine military officials. Senior US officials have recently held similar discussions with Vietnam.

"We discussed the assertiveness we're experiencing by the Chinese in the South China Sea and the concerns that has generated within the region," he said.

He added that US forces will continue with their presence in the region for years to come to keep its sea lanes and air space safe for the huge traffic of commercial cargo.

The Spratlys are a group of islands, reefs and atolls with rich fishing grounds.

The area is believed to have large oil and natural gas reserves and straddles busy sea lanes that are a crucial conduit for oil and other resources fuelling China's fast-expanding economy and those of other Asian nations.

The conflicting claims have occasionally erupted into armed confrontation, although China and the other claimants have sought to resolve differences peacefully and pledged not to take any steps that could lead to clashes under a 2002 code of conduct.

Chinese forces seized the western Paracel Islands from Vietnam in 1974 and sank three Vietnamese naval vessels in a 1988 sea battle.

The recent patrol and exercises close to China by the nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, along with its accompanying powerful escort fleet, raised anger among some People's Liberation Army generals.

The presence of the giant vessel, which was involved in joint exercises with the South Korean military, was designed to deter further aggression by North Korea following the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel by Pyongyang's forces.

However, the vessel passed "perilously close" to China's maritime boundary, according to state media.