U.S. mulls pledge on disputed Philippines outpost
The U.S. military should consider offering new security guarantees to the Philippines similar to those promised to Japan in response to any military attacks by China in maritime disputes in Asia, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific said this week.
The idea behind the new guarantee would be to dissuade China from attacking a Philippines military outpost in the disputed Spratly Islands chain.
The declaration would be similar to U.S. militaryguarantees provided to Japan in the East China Sea over the past several years. Senior Obama administration officials have made several high-profile statements in recent years declaring that any attack on Japan’s Senkaku Islands, which China also claims as its territory, would prompt a U.S. military response.
The new declaration could be made under the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty and would signal a shift in the current U.S. policy of declaring Washington does not take sides in the South China Sea maritime disputes.
The issue came up Tuesday during a SenateArmed Services Committee hearing led by Sen. John McCain with Adm. Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.
Mr. McCain said he is concerned China may seek to expel the Philippines from Second Thomas Shoal, or build new infrastructure on nearby Scarborough Shoal. “Given this, we should consider clarifying how the United States will respond to an attack on the territory or armed forces of the Philippines under the U.S.-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty,” the Arizona Republican said.
Asked about providing a direct U.S. militaryguarantee to the Philippines to protect the Spratlys, Adm. Harris said: “I think we should consider it, and we should have a discussion of it in the policy arena.”
“Our obligations under the treaty with the Philippines [are] pretty clear, and whether we extend that to Second Thomas Shoal, which we don’t hold is Philippine sovereign territory because we don’t have a position on sovereignty, we should have that discussion, I believe,” Adm. Harris said.
About a dozen Philippines Marines currently are stationed on Second Thomas Shoal aboard a 330-foot-long, U.S.-built tank landing ship that was deliberately run aground there in 1999 to counter Chinese activities on nearby Mischief Reef.
China has demanded the vessel be removed and threatened unspecified “further measures” against the ship after supplies were sent to the ship last summer.
Sen. Tom Cotton said he supports the idea of a new guarantee. “I think deterrence works best when deterrence is clear, as with relationships that we have with NATO and Taiwan,” the Arkansas Republican said.
Philippines is a leading challenger to Chinese encroachment in the Spratlys and fears China’s growing militarization on the newly created islands that are located fewer than 100 miles from the Philippines’ main islands.
Manila recently gave final approval for an enhanced defense cooperation agreement with the Obama administration that will pave the way for a much larger U.S. military presence and greater military cooperation.
Defense officials said the new guarantee has been discussed internally at Pacific Commandand the Pentagon. A U.S. declaration that an attack on any Philippines’ facilities in the Spratlys will prompt a U.S. military response would be designed to deter growing Chinese military aggression in the region.
The idea was outlined publicly in a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in August.
The report recommends that Washington consider “offering an explicit guarantee that it will respond under the framework of the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty to an attack on Philippine troops, ships or planes in disputed waters or features in the South China Sea.”
The guarantee does not need to be the same as the one for Japan’s Senkakus. But it would include a public clarification that disputed waters and features in the South China Sea fall under the defense treaty’s Article V. The provision commits the United States to respond to any attack on Philippines armed forces, vessels or aircraft in the Pacific.
The declaration would give “an enormous boost” to U.S. ties with Manila and eliminate doubts in the Philippines on whether the United States is a reliable ally, the report said.
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