PH to Allow Allies Access of Bases

The Philippines plans to give the United States and other ally  countries access to its military bases under an arrangement that the  US forces could use to counter China’s unlikely presence in the  disputed West Philippine Sea or South China Sea.

The plan comes amid China’s increasing assertiveness in staking its  claims in the sea, sending large flotillas of fishing boats  accompanied by warships on so-called fishing expeditions to areas  within the territorial waters of the Philippines and Vietnam.

However, contrary to a foreign news report on Thursday that was  attributed to unnamed Philippine Navy officials, Defense Secretary  Voltaire Gazmin said the Philippines would not build new air and naval  bases, but rather access.

Gazmin clarified reports of a news service saying that the Philippines  would allow the United States, Japan and other allies access to its  existing military bases under an agreement that would be in accordance  with the Constitution and the Visiting Forces Agreement. The 1987  Constitution prohibits foreign military bases in the country.

Gazmin said that the government is still preparing the access agreement.

‘After that (the agreement) is done, then we will be allowing it, if  and when there is an agreement, access,’ he said.

The access would allow the United States and other countries with  which the Philippines has visiting forces agreements to station  warships, planes and troops within striking distance of Panatag Shoal  and parts of the Spratly archipelago within the Philippines’ exclusive  economic zone in the West Philippine Sea that China insists are parts  of its territory.

The defense minister also said that there will be equipment coming in  from the United States and as far as Japan is concerned, Philippines  will also do welcome other countries, particularly Japan since Japan  is a strategic partner, in accordance with the Philippine’s existing  protocols.

Philippines is not the only unlikely country experiencing territorial  claim disputes. Vietnam and China have fought naval battles in the  Paracels, an archipelago in a part of the waterway that Hanoi calls  East Sea.

The Philippines has taken its dispute with China over Panatag Shoal to  the United Nations for arbitration. The Philippine bases plan has  taken on added urgency since the standoff with China at Panatag Shoal,  which Chinese ships now guard, often chasing away Filipino fishermen.

Meanwhile, China had already heard the news and warned that countries  with territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea which look for help  from third parties will find their efforts ‘futile.’

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the strategy was a ‘path of  confrontation’ and it would be ‘doomed.’

China is suspicious about the Philippine bases plan.

Speaking at the Tsinghua World Peace Forum, Wang, without mentioning  the Philippines, said countries that ‘try to reinforce their poorly  grounded claims (in the West Philippine Sea) through the help of  external forces’ will find that strategy a ‘miscalculation not worth  the effort.’

Wang’s comments came days before he is due to attend a meeting of  foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations  (Asean) in Brunei, which opens Saturday.

The 10-member Asean hopes to reach a legally binding code of conduct  to manage maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea. For now, a  watered-down ‘Declaration of Conduct’ is in place.

Consequently, the West Philippine Sea dispute will loom large again  over the said regional diplomacy next week when US Secretary of State  John Kerry joins his counterparts from Asean nations and China among  other countries for the annual meeting in Brunei.

The Philippines plans to raise the issue of Chinese ships’  ‘encroachment’ near Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in the Spratly  archipelago in the middle of the West Philippine Sea where Manila  recently beefed up its small military presence, diplomatic sources said.

China has accused the Philippines of ‘illegal occupation’ of the reef,  which is a strategic gateway to an area believed to be rich in oil and  natural gas.

The Philippines and the United States on Thursday began five days of  joint naval exercises off Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal), a rich  fishing ground within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone that  China occupied after a maritime standoff that lasted more than two  months last year.

Gazmin spoke at a news conference last Thursday with Japanese Defense  Minister Itsunori Onodera, who is in the country for a two-day  official visit.

Japan, similar with Philippines, share a territorial dispute over  rival claimant China of the East China Sea island known as Senkakus  but which the Chinese call Diaoyus.

The meeting last Thursday with Gazmin drew out a plan to boost its  ‘partnership’ for defense, particularly in maritime affairs.

The Philippine bases plan coincides with the US ‘pivot’ to Asia, a  strategy that will see 60 percent of America’s warships shifting to  the region before the end of the decade.

Source:  http://globalnation.inquirer.net/78885/ph-us-allies-may-use-military-bases