Speaking at a press conference today, Philippines Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said that the US was obliged to provide full military protection to all of the Philippines’ territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Gazmin said that both Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had recently pledged that the US would honor the 1951 military pact. The treaty obliges both sides to fight wars to protect whatever either of them considers a part of their “territorial integrity,” which would include disputed islands in the South China Sea.
A number of unpopulated islands in the South China Sea are disputed, mutually claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and/or Indonesia. In general, the US has been supporting the claims of the last three, while accusing China of provocation with their own claims.
The Chinese military has recently issued statements objecting to the US military presence and backing of the Philippines in the region, saying it threatens to provoke a broad military fight in the Pacific. Philippine warships have recently attempted to capture Chinese fighting ships in the region, leading to a growing Chinese naval presence in the area.
The government of the Phillipines should look at the Russia-Georgia War of August 2008 before they make the same stupid mistake that the Georgians made.
The U.S. doesn't fight with nuclear-armed nations. The U.S. also isn't likely to fight with a nation (China) that holds trillions of dollars of U.S. debt. No pact from 61 years ago requires us to endanger millions of American lives and our ailing economy.
That sea is called the South CHINA Sea for a reason. Get over it.
China should do everything in its power to remind the US who holds the cards here. Furthermore, protests by the Philipine population have been all over the country against US interference, and any US military in their country.
The treaty states that: any "Each Party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific Area on either of the Parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes."
1. Believing that islands in the South China Sea are " in the Pacific Area" is a stretch.
2. That such an attack would be dangerous to US peace and safety is also far-fetched.
3. That the US would act in accordance with its constitutional processes is bogus idea #3.
To provoke a conflict with China over some unpopulated islands in the South China sea claimed by both the Philippines and China is beyond stupid. The Chineses are our bankers and have it within their power to destroy what is left of the value of the dollar by dumping US Debt. The Chinese have nuclear weapons and a number of US citizens are dependent on cheap Chinese imports to survive. Good relations with China are much more important than some stupid military pact made with the Philippines in 1951. The USG needs to make clear to the Philippines that this conflict needs to be resolved peacefully, and that they can count on no US military support to resolve this conflict.