WASHINGTON:
The United States pledged on Thursday to
help the Philippines step up its defences in the face of a rising China as it
welcomes President Benigno Aquino, seen by US officials as a promising partner.
President
Barack Obama will meet on Friday at the White House with Aquino, who has raised
the profile of the Philippines in Washington through his pledges to tackle
corruption and to boost the military relationship with the United States.
Top US
military officer General Martin Dempsey, who met Aquino on Monday in Manila,
said that he spoke about expanding cooperation with the former US colony beyond
recent efforts focused on fighting Islamic insurgents.
The
Philippines "has been inward-focused on its internal terrorism and
insurgent issues for some time - for decades really - and so have a very
limited capability to project power or to influence activities around it,"
said Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"We
think that they need some of that, particularly in maritime security,"
Dempsey told reporters in Washington.
The
United States has already been helping to upgrade the notoriously antiquated
Philippine military and Aquino has agreed to let a greater number of US troops
rotate - but not set up bases - in the archipelago.
An
Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that
the two leaders on Friday would review defence ties and also "talk about
the work ahead in broadening cooperation."
The
cooperation comes as the Philippines - a US treaty ally - sees particularly
tense relations with China, which has butted heads with a number of its
neighbours in recent years over territorial disputes in strategic waters.
Friction
escalated in April when Chinese and Philippine vessels approached the
Scarborough Shoal, which lies near the main Philippine island of Luzon. Manila
says the rock formation falls within its exclusive economic zone, but China
claims the shoal along with nearly all of the South China Sea.
Dempsey
said he spoke with Aquino about the need to "ensure freedom of
navigation" in the South China Sea.
Dempsey
said that he and Aquino did not discuss the disputes in themselves but "we
certainly called on all claimants to resolve these issues through existing
international fora and without coercion."
The
Obama administration has pledged a growing focus on Asia, with Defence
Secretary Leon Panetta announcing last week that the United States would shift
the majority of its naval fleet to the Pacific by 2020.
China
has voiced uneasiness about the Obama administration's effort in Asia, with
some Chinese scholars suspecting that a declining United States is trying to
hold back a rising Beijing.
Dempsey
denied any such effort and, in line with frequent comments by US officials,
said that the US military brought stability to Asia.
"I
(have) assured anyone that chose to ask me the question - our strategy and
rebalancing to the Pacific is not intended to contain China," Dempsey
said.
Obama
also plans to discuss trade with Aquino, including measures the Philippines
would need to take for eventual participation in talks on the Trans-Pacific
Partnership, an emerging trade pact, an official said.
Ernie
Bower, director of the Southeast Asia programme at the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies, said he expected strong US support for the Philippines
on the South China Sea.
But he
said that an emphasis on trade during Aquino's visit could serve as a balance
after concerns in the region that the United States has focused too much on the
military side of its efforts in Asia.
"The
United States is very bullish on Aquino. He's got the economy cranking and he
wants to step forward on the political/military side," Bower said.
The
president, son of democracy heroine Corazon Aquino, recently won a high-profile
battle in his campaign against corruption with the sacking of the country's top
judge.
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AFP/de
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