Posted on 06/27/2013 7:05:30 PM PDT by TexGrill
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is boosting military ties with the United States and Japan as it seeks to counter China’s increased presence in disputed waters in the fish and gas-rich South China Sea. President Benigno Aquino’s government is crafting an agreement with the US giving its military access to Subic Bay, Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said at a briefing in Manila Thursday. Gazmin and Itsunori Onodera, his Japanese counterpart, also agreed at a meeting Thursday to boost defense cooperation, Japan’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement. The deals come amid tensions in the waters, which are beset by competing territorial claims from countries including the Philippines, China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Countries have struggled to agree on rules for operating in the seas, raising the risk of confrontation as China’s military strength grows. Vietnam and the Philippines have rejected China’s claims in the waters as a basis for joint development of oil and gas reserves. Speaking at a briefing Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called on the Philippines to work with other countries in the region and play a positive role in regional stability. “If and when there is an agreement on access, there will be equipment coming in from the US,” Gazmin said, without giving further detail. Military bases won’t be built in Subic, the former site of an American naval base, and the deal won’t violate the Philippine constitution, he said. Subic Bay is the site of a former US naval base in Zambales province north of Manila, which includes the Scarborough Shoal area disputed with China.
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The Philippines are growing their economy. Their biggest mistake was pushing us out at Subic Bay. Now the PRC is starting to make their move in the So. China Sea and the US is OTL with Obama/Kerry/Hagel running the show.
Olongapo and Subic are resorts now, theme parks and everything. Not the kind of theme park I knew in the 80s. My wife is a nurse from PI, we met in the Persian Gulf. She agrees with me, the PI Senators have bashed us for years, the women know if they have sex with an American serviceman they can scream rape and make big bucks. Why we are going back in there to pull their a$$ out of the fire is beyond me. They are not our allies in Asia, they blame us for their problems as often as Obama blames Bush.
That sounds like the South Koreans too.
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