Military top brass. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, and Gen. Jesse Dellosa, Chief of Staff of the Philippine Armed Forces, stand shoulder-to-shoulder during a ceremony in Quezon City.
UNITED States Joint Chiefs of Staff head Gen. Martin Dempsey repeated to President Benigno Aquino III Washington’s position that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea must be used to peacefully resolve the Philippines’ and China’s claim to areas in the South China Sea, an official said Monday.
Military top brass. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, and Gen. Jesse Dellosa, Chief of Staff of the Philippine Armed Forces, stand shoulder-to-shoulder during a ceremony in Quezon City.
“There were some broad discussions on the support of the United States for a peaceful resolution,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said after Mr. Aquino’s meeting with Dempsey at the Palace.
“The US continued to say that they advocate a peaceful resolution, that they continue to advocate a pursuit of the validation of claims using UNCLOS, and that they also continue to emphasize that there should be no use of force.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier said China “exceeded” the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone provided under UNCLOS when it claimed owning the entire South China Sea or West Philippine Sea.
Del Rosario said Mr. Aquino and Dempsey discussed the Scarborough Shoal, which is being claimed by China and the Philippines, but only in broad terms.
“We said that we are pursuing a bilateral consultation with China through our people here…” Del Rosario said.
“We’re honestly trying to de-escalate the situation in search of a peaceful solution, so we remain faithful to that.”
Del Rosario said there was nothing unusual in the meeting that Dempsey had sought.
“It is part of his regular visit,” Del Rosario said.
Earlier, Mr. Aquino said he would bring up the country’s territorial dispute with China in his bilateral meetings with US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron this week.
“This is a body of water where a substantial amount of trade pass through, so it is a concern for everyone,” the President said.
Dempsey also met with Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Jessie Dellosa in Camp Aguinaldo, but it had been a closed-door meeting.
Military spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. said Dempsey and his delegation arrived at 11 a.m. and that they stayed for more than an hour.
“I’m not privy as to the details of the meeting, but I’m sure some of the things that were discussed are security issues, strengthening of military-to-military partnership through the Mutual Defense Treaty, and future Balikatan ][Shoulder-to-Shoulder] exercises,” Burgos said.
He said Dempsey’s last visit here was five years ago.
A military source said Dempsey’s talks with Dellosa centered on China’s encroachment into the Scarborough Shoal off Masinloc in Zambales and into some areas in the Kalayaan Island Group in Palawan.
Another source said the military leadership repeated to Dempsey the Philippines’ need for a credible defense force to defend its territory. With Florante S. Solmerin
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US vows to aid allies in maritime rights
By AP (The Philippine Star)
CAM RANH BAY, Vietnam – US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta used a visit to Vietnam last Sunday to make clear Washington’s intent to aid allies in the Asia-Pacific region develop and enforce maritime rights in the South China Sea, which Beijing largely claims.
On a historic stop in Cam Ranh Bay, the strategic deep water port that was a US base during the Vietnam War, Panetta could gaze out from the flight deck of the USNS Richard E. Byrd toward the sea and reflect on the significance of the harbor, which represents both a painful past for the American military and a challenging but hopeful future.
“The new defense strategy that we have put in place for the United States represents a number of key elements that will be tested in the Asia-Pacific region,” Panetta told reporters gathered under a blazing sun on the deck of the cargo vessel.
He said the US would “work with our partners like Vietnam to be able to use harbors like this as we move our ships from our ports on the West Coast toward our stations here in the Pacific.”
Panetta never mentioned China as he spoke to crew members on the Byrd and later to reporters. But with the South China Sea as a backdrop, he left no doubt that the US will maintain a strong presence in the region and wants to help allies protect themselves and their maritime rights.
His visit, however, is likely to irritate Chinese leaders who are unhappy with any US buildup in the region and view it as a possible threat.
Panetta, in remarks Saturday to a defense conference in Singapore, rejected such claims about the shift in US military focus. But US officials are wary of China’s increased military buildup and expanding trade relations with other countries in the region.
“Access for United States naval ships into this facility is a key component of this relationship (with Vietnam) and we see a tremendous potential here for the future,” he said.
This is Panetta’s first visit to Vietnam, and his stop at the harbor made him the most senior US official to go to Cam Ranh Bay since the Vietnam War ended.
Right now US warships do not go into the harbor, but other Navy ships, such as the Byrd, do. The Byrd is a cargo ship operated by the Navy’s Military Sealift Command; it has a largely civilian crew. It is used to move military supplies to US forces around the world. Navy warships go to other Vietnam ports, such as Danang.
While Panetta suggested the US may want to send more ships to Cam Ranh Bay in the future, he and other defense officials did not detail what requests he may make in meetings with Vietnamese leaders.
On Sunday, the port served more as a symbol of America’s growing military relationship with Vietnam, underscoring Washington’s desire to build partnerships in the region in part to counter China’s escalating dominance.
For Panetta, who was in the military during the Vietnam era but did not serve in the country, it was an emotional opportunity.
“For me personally this is a very moving moment,” he said, noting that on Memorial Day he was at the Vietnam memorial in Washington commemorating the 50th anniversary of the war.
“Today I stand on a US ship here in Cam Ranh Bay to recognize the 17th anniversary of the normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam,” he said.
The relationship between the two nations has come a long way, he said. “We have a complicated relationship but we’re not bound by that history.”
The new US strategy for the Asia-Pacific includes a broad plan to help countries learn to better defend themselves, and for that to happen “it is very important that we be able to protect key maritime rights for all nations in the South China Sea and elsewhere,” Panetta said from the deck of the ship.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, setting up conflicts with other nations in the region, including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and others who also have territorial claims there.
Panetta flew to Vietnam from a major defense conference in Singapore, where he met with leaders from allies all across the region. There he issued a strong call for Asian nations to set up a code of conduct, including rules governing maritime rights and navigation in the South China Sea, and then develop a forum where disputes can be settled.
At the same time he detailed plans to boost US military presence in the region, including a modest increase in ships and more troops that would mainly rotate in and out. Defense officials said that by 2020 the US Navy would add about eight ships to the Asia-Pacific region, and overall would have about 60 percent of the fleet assigned there.
Tensions between the US and China reverberate across the region, and are often focused on America’s support of the island of Taiwan, which China considers its own. Another key area of dispute is the South China Sea, which China claims almost entirely as its own. But Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines also have territorial claims there.
In addition, more recently the US has been vocal in blaming China for cyber attacks that emanate from the country and steal critical data from US government agencies and private American companies.
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