Standoff gives talks with US added urgency

WASHINGTON – A naval incident between the Philippines and China has given added urgency to high-level talks between Manila and Washington on Filipino’s requests for modern military hardware including an extra warship and a squadron of F-16 jets for its maritime defense, US analysts said. 

The meeting here on April 30 between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin follows a Philippine-China standoff over alleged poaching at Scarborough Shoal off Zambales bringing tensions in the South China Sea a notch higher. 

The Scarborough incident is the latest in the South China Sea.

Six nations – including China and the Philippines – have overlapping claims over disputed territories in the area rich in marine life, oil and gas. 

At the so-called 2+2 talks, it is expected the Philippines will submit a list of military hardware it needs for a credible maritime defense while the United States will seek bilateral arrangements to help it remain engaged and forward deployed in Southeast Asia to counter China‘s rising military.

Informed military sources said items likely to be considered include a Philippine request for a third US Coast Guard cutter, a squadron of F-16s, communications and electronics equipment as well as modern weapons systems for its two newly acquired cutters.

“I think it would be a travesty if the third cutter does not go to the Philippines especially since the Philippines is a ‘major non-NATO ally’ of the United States,” said Walter Lohman, director of Asian Studies at the Heritage Foundation.

President George W. Bush bestowed this designation to the Philippines in 2003, allowing it greater access to American defense equipment and supplies.

Lohman, in an article on Thursday, said history has tied the US and the Philippines at the hip and America should do whatever it can to support its ally especially when it can do so by supporting free trade.

“There are some easy ways for the US to support its treaty alliances in Asia and promoting free trade through as many different venues and mechanisms as possible is a major one,” he said.

However, Lohman said not all of America’s allies including the Philippines are ready to negotiate a bilateral Free Trade Agreement or to be part of broader initiatives such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

He said the US should be flexible on the scope of its approach and some nations, particularly allies, might have to be met more than halfway.

Lohman said the Save Our Industries (SAVE) Act pending in the US Congress that would grant duty-free treatment to apparel assembled in the Philippines from American-made fabrics was a win-win for the US-Philippines Alliance.