The Philippines and Japan want U.S. help in dealing with China's aggression in Spratlys

The Betraying China lost its trust from all surrounding neighbors

While President Obama was telling America that “it is time to focus on nation-building here at home,” visitors from two Asian countries came to town reminding the administration that America is needed more than ever in their region as a counterweight to an increasingly assertive China.

On Thursday, Albert F. del Rosario, secretary of foreign affairs for the Philippines, was due to meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for talks that he told me and a couple of Post colleagues would “focus on territorial defense, given the challenges to maritime security.”

That’s code for China’s ambitious claims in the South China Sea, which have alarmed not only the Philippines but also Japan and Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations.

“The situation is shaky out there,” del Rosario said during a visit to The Post. “The intrusions are getting more aggressive.” China, he said, has escalated its challenges in an area recently found to contain large deposits of natural gas: “From frigates firing on our fishing boats, they’ve gone to harassing our exploration boats to bringing in platforms and posts.”

As a result, del Rosario said he would be asking U.S. officials for “clarification” on whether the U.S.-Filipino mutual defense treaty extends to offshore territory and for help in obtaining new patrol boats.

The foreign secretary said that the United States should be as concerned as Asian nations are with China’s claims, because they could lead to China choking off free navigation. “China says there will be no problem,” he said. “If push comes to shove, will that benevolence continue?”

So how should the United States respond?

“We’re confident that, having neglected that part of the world for quite a long time, [the Americans] would like to reestablish their presence there,” del Rosario said.

Earlier in the week The Post’s Jason Ukman and I spoke with Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, who was in town with the country’s foreign minister to meet with Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Japan too has had run-ins with China in the South China Sea, and Kitazawa’s prescription was similar to del Rosario’s.

“If the United States strikes a firm position, by stating that the United States is going to maintain a strong position in the region, China will have to show restraint,” Kitazawa said.

In an unstable political situation in Tokyo, Kitazawa represents what passes for stability: He’s the only cabinet member to be holding the same position since what had been the longtime opposition party came to power in 2009. And he pointed out the significance of the government’s evolution over these two years, from questioning the U.S.-Japan alliance — as the opposition had done for half a century when it was out of power — to fully embracing it.

“That means essentially that political forces representing 80 percent of the Japanese people are now committed to this alliance,” Kitazawa said. “So the U.S.-Japan alliance is deepened further.”

There are a number of reasons Japan has come around to this view, including generous and quick U.S. assistance after the great earthquake in March and the continuing belligerence of North Korea. But the chief reason is China’s assertiveness, and the desire, shared throughout Asia, for the United States to play a balancing role.

Such a U.S. presence will be essential to the maintenance of peace, continued growth of trade and prosperity, and promotion of values important to America — such as freedom — and less cherished by China’s Communists. Presumably our Asian allies will be watching to see whether such a presence will also be compatible with Obama’s call to turn inward.

 

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Not only the Philippines and ASEAN but India now on Alert for China's Invasion to their waters

The Philippines recorded 7 times invasion of China in the Philippines waters within 5 months period in 2011. China insisted that they are committed for peace and security of the region but fired to the Filipino Fishermen in the shore few kilometers from Palawan and harassed Philippine oil exploration vessel in the province of Palawan, Philippines.

With the Mutual Defense Treaty with Philippines and USA signed in 1951, USA found obliged to protect the Philippines from any form of invasion which even the United States is already un-performing their duties to protect the Philippines after series of invasion of China in the Philippines waters.

Lately, USA pronounced their commitment to protect the Philippines and support in terms of weapon and armaments after the Philippines ask for help from the Washington power to effects the Mutual Defense treaty signed in 1951.

Chinese foreign policy analysts are rejecting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s pledge to support the Philippines, amid rising tensions over maritime territorial disputes involving China and other claimants in the South China Sea.

Qu Xing is the president of the China Institute of International Studies, which advises Beijing on foreign policy issues.

He used very strong language when asked about Secretary Clinton’s comments that the United States is committed to the Philippines by a mutual defense treaty.

Qu says he thinks the premise of Secretary Clinton’s statement is that China is going to invade the Philippines - a notion he calls “totally groundless.”

The Spratly Islands are the main focus of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.  China shares claims over the potentially oil rich islands with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The Chinese analyst says Beijing is committed to a peaceful resolution of the overlapping claims, but only on a bilateral basis.  He says the U.S. actions are “not conducive” to dialogue and negotiations.

The Spratlys also lie near important shipping routes, and Washington has expressed concern that U.S. ships will no longer be able to freely navigate in the South China Sea.

Former Chinese Ambassador to Britain Ma Zhengang also advises Beijing on foreign policy matters.  He said he does not see any problem with free navigation in the area and accuses the United States of linking two different issues.

Ma said he has read articles alleging that the United States is using the South China Sea issue as an excuse to return to Asia.  He added that other countries involved in the territorial disputes are hoping that with Washington’s involvement, they can have more strength in confronting China.

He compared current events to Vietnam’s reassertion of its Spratly claims in the 1970’s.  He said Hanoi at the time had the backing of the former Soviet Union, and so acted “tougher” against China. 

He said China has been committed to safeguarding peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and has, up until now, constrained its actions there.

India is on alert for Possible China’s invasion to their water

Meanwhile, how China handles the Spratly issue also has implications for the country’s other territorial disputes. Amer Latif, a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, says officials in India are closely watching developments in the South China Sea.

“I think that India is concerned Chinese behavior in the South China Sea may be an indicator of how China will act towards it in the settlement of Sino-Indian border disputes," Latif said. "If we see China is flouting international norms and is antagonizing its neighbors, I think that would be a bad sign for New Delhi in how China might act towards it in its bilateral border discussions.”

China and India fought a brief, but bitter, border war in 1962.  The two countries are in talks to resolve the issue, but a solution appears far off amidst reports that both countries have recently increased military presence on both sides of the border.

 

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