United States Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr. on
Wednesday said that amid countries’ territorial disputes over areas in the West
Philippine Sea (South China Sea), the US would remain firm to its commitment
under its Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) ties with the Philippines, and its plan
to reposition its military forces in the Asia Pacific region.
“Rising tensions is in no one’s
interest but, as Secretary Hillary Clinton has stated, we are a Pacific nation,
the United States, we stand by our Mutual Defence Treaty,” Thomas said.
Speaking at the at a Makati
Business Club’s (MBC) general membership meeting on the topic The Significance
of the Philippines – United States Alliance in a Volatile Pacific Region,
Thomas said: “We have made a re-balance or re-pivot to Asia on all sides and
that will continue.”
Thomas, in his speech and in
interviews with reporters at the sidelines of the meet, reiterated the United
States’ position of having peaceful resolutions to the disputes in accordance
with international law.
He added that the West Philippine
Sea issue was something that the US worked out on a daily business with
concerned Philippine government officials, but that they called on all nation
states to “sit and decide on things at the negotiating table.”
“We don’t want to further
escalate tensions; we want peaceful resolution of tensions but we want all
countries to live up to their agreements and that is why we support the Code of
Conduct between China and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). We
think this is a better way to resolve this,” Thomas said.
Tensions in the West Philippine
Sea, internationally known as South China Sea, have been rising in the recent
months, with countries’ contesting their claims over the area, and China
deploying its ships around the Scarbourough Shoal.
Apart from China, the
Philippines, Brunei Malaysia and Vietnam, and Taiwan claim parts of the sea.
Manila has been pushing for
diplomatic, legal and political solution to the dispute, which began when
maritime authorities caught Chinese fishermen reportedly poaching in the
disputed waters.
China claims sovereignty over
nearly all of the West Philippine Sea, which is believed to sit atop vast
amounts of oil and gas, is one of the region’s most important fishing grounds,
and is home to shipping lanes that are vital to global trade.
Asked about the specifics of the
US plan to rebuild its forces in Asia in relation to assistance to the
Philippines, Thomas said that they were looking for a “balance” in the
relationship, not only focusing on military plans but also beefing up efforts
for humanitarian assistance, disaster mitigation efforts and economic
investment.
He, however, said that in terms
of equipment, they we’re bringing the second cutter, the Dallas, to the
Philippines, in about six to eight months. He said that Filipino sailors were
already training on manning the ship.
Thomas also said that he would be
heading to Puerto Princesa, Palawan Thursday to donate the last of the six
ships the US had been providing to the Philippine National Police (PNP) to help
the agency capture smugglers.
He said that the White House
would also be sending a team to the country next week to meet Filipino
officials and engage sectors in efforts to combat human trafficking.
He said he was also pleased that
members of other Asean were also stepping up to assist the Philippines
militarily across a broad range especially in disaster and humanitarian
assistance.
“We have poured last year US$4
million to help cities train to prevent and mitigate flood. We’ll put more
money in next year for disaster relief because clearly climate change has
already been the ring of fire. We have US AID and the defence department
working on Philippine organisations on recommendations on these assistance,” he
said.
He also noted how the US had more
peace corps volunteers in the Philippines than any country in the world, and
that there were over 200 peace corps volunteers in the country.
Thomas stressed how the
Philippines should particularly work on its economic investments and
initiatives and step up to not lag behind other Asean nations, saying that of
the $150 billion investment in Asean, $100 billion was in Singapore.
“How do you attract that $100
billion that Singapore has to the Philippines that is not up to us, that is up
to you to design,” Thomas said.
He noted how the Philippines
ranked eighth or ninth economically among Asean countries but that he believed
that the Philippines could be number one.
Thomas said that they were
working on getting American businessmen to look favourably on Southeast Asian
nations, but that Southeast Asian nations-based business should open up and be
more transparent economic societies.
Thomas said that with his
experience in the Philippines, he believed that the country needed to work on
transparency in court system and bureaucracy, speed of decision making, and
predictability.
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