South China Sea and China (2011-2017)

[Ray]

US not coming to PH aid vs China

The United States yesterday said it will not side with any party in the Spratlys conflict, which is to say that the Philippines’ most powerful ally will not be coming to its aid should its spat with China escalate into a shooting war.

The US Embassy made this clear yesterday in reaction to a Malacañang statement earlier yesterday expressing confidence that Washington would honor its commitment under the two countries’ Mutual Defense Treaty to come to the aid of a beleaguered ally.

“The US does not take sides in regional territorial disputes,” the US press attaché Rebecca Thompson said in an e-mailed statement when contacted for comment to deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte’s invoking of the 60-year-old MDT.

Thompson said the US was “troubled by incidents in the South China Sea in recent days that have raised tensions in the region” and that Washington opposes “the use or threat of force” by any of the countries with rival claims to the Spratly islands.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/14118/u...h-aid-vs-china

This would upset those who have any strategic relationship or Defence Pact with the US and none would like to enter such agreements in future.

[Backwards Observer]

This would upset those who have any strategic relationship or Defence Pact with the US and none would like to enter such agreements in future.

You would probably know better than me, but my guess is that this is most likely to upset those who may see their relationship with the US as a 'let's you and him fight' arrangement viz Johnny Chinaman. US sleight of hand is probably best employed offstage in the opening acts of these affaires de coeur. I don't think the US willingness to go Deus Ex Machina on people's asses is really in doubt if it should come down to projectile flinging. Things may be different from what I imagine, however.

[Dayuhan]

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/14118/u...h-aid-vs-china

This would upset those who have any strategic relationship or Defence Pact with the US and none would like to enter such agreements in future.

This is nothing at all new... the dispute is old and the US position is as well. The US considers the Spratlys to be disputed territory, not an integral part of the Philippines... which makes sense, because deciding these disputes is not in any way up to the US. Given this, Chinese military action in the Spratlys is not regarded as an attack on the Philippines and would not trigger the mutual defense pact. Again, this has been the US position for ages, and comes out every time the issue comes up, as it has done periodically for decades.

There's a big difference between being willing to protect allies from actual attack on their territory and taking a blanket position of support that actually encourages allies to take an unnecessarily bellicose stance that could provoke a conflict that would benefit nobody. I don't see that kind of common sense as a disincentive to anyone who wants a mutual defense relationship with the US.

[Ray]

US, Philippines to hold war games amid tension in South China Sea

The United States and the Philippines are set to hold naval exercise amid heightened tension in Western Philippine Sea following allegations of intrusion by Chinese Naval personnel in the Philippine-occupied area of the disputed Spratly Islands.
Philippine military authorities said though the the joint naval exercise has nothing to do with the reported Chinese incursions in Philippine territories, according to Armed Forces spokesman Commodore Jose Miguel Rodriguez.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/articl...#ixzz1P4zY6msy

Thar she Blows!