U.S. to Boost Philippine Intelligence, Manila Says

MANILA - Washington has vowed to boost the Philippines' intelligence capabilities in the South China Sea, where tensions with China are rising over conflicting territorial claims, Manila said June 25.
It comes after the United States, which is increasingly concerned about the situation in the South China Sea, said on June 23 it was ready to provide hardware to modernize the military of its close but impoverished ally.

U.S. National Director for Intelligence James Clapper made the commitment in a meeting with Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario in Washington.
Del Rosario is in the U.S. seeking help for the Philippines' poorly equipped military.
"The U.S. official pledged to enhance the NDI's intelligence sharing with the Philippines to heighten the latter's maritime situational awareness and surveillance in the West Philippine Sea," a Philippine Foreign Department statement said.
Clapper was quoted as saying that "we'll do whatever we can to help" as he expressed concern over recent events in the South China Sea.
The "West Philippine Sea" is the term that the Philippine government now uses for the South China Sea to further stress its claim to part of the area.
Del Rosario was quoted as saying he was "exploring an option" which would allow the Philippines to acquire newer military equipment at a lower cost.
However he did not say what this option was.
After their meeting on June 23, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told del Rosario that her government would speed up their military assistance to boost the Philippines' capabilities.
"We are determined and committed to supporting the defense of the Philippines," she told a joint news conference.
The Philippines had sought to modernize its military following a series of incidents with China in the South China Sea, particularly in the Spratlys, a chain of islets believed to sit on vast mineral resources.
However a spokeswoman for Philippine President Benigno Aquino said the renewed ties between the United States and the Philippines should not agitate China.
"We renewed the commitment of both countries for a peaceful environment and reiterated our desire for a multilateral approach to resolving issues," spokeswoman Abigail Valte said in Manila.
"It is just an affirmation of our commitment for peace and stability in the region."
Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim all or part of the South China Sea which includes the Spratlys.

U.S. Says It Will Provide Hardware to Philippines

WASHINGTON - The United States on June 23 said it was ready to provide hardware to modernize the military of the Philippines, which vowed to "stand up to aggressive action" amid rising tension at sea with China.
Filipino Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, on a visit to Washington, said the Philippines hoped to lease equipment to upgrade its aged fleet and called for the allies to revamp their relationship in light of the friction with China.

"We are determined and committed to supporting the defense of the Philippines," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a joint news conference when asked about the hardware wish-list from the Philippines.
Clinton said the two nations were working "to determine what are the additional assets that the Philippines needs and how we can best provide those." She said del Rosario would meet Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other Pentagon officials.
Tensions in the strategic and resource-rich South China Sea have escalated in recent weeks, with the Philippines and Vietnam alarmed at what they say are increasingly aggressive actions by Beijing in the disputed waters.
Several Southeast Asian nations have been seeking closer relationships with the United States, which since last year has called loudly for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
"We are concerned that recent incidents in the South China Sea could undermine peace and stability," Clinton told reporters, urging "all sides to exercise self-restraint."
Del Rosario, with Clinton at his side, said that the Philippines was a small country but is "prepared to do what is necessary to stand up to any aggressive action in our backyard."
The Philippines has announced the deployment in disputed waters of its navy flagship, the Rajah Humabon. One of the world's oldest warships, Rajah Humabon is a former U.S. Navy frigate that served during World War II.
The Philippines has historically bought second-hand hardware, but del Rosario said that President Benigno Aquino has allocated 11 billion pesos ($252 million) to upgrade the navy.
Shortly ahead of his talks with Clinton, del Rosario said that the Philippines was asking the United States for "an operational lease so that we can look at fairly new equipment and be able to get our hands on that quickly."
"We need to have the resources to be able to stand and defend ourselves and, I think, to the extent that we can do that, we become a stronger ally for you," del Rosario said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The United States signed a defense treaty with the Philippines in 1951, five years after the archipelago's independence from U.S. colonial rule. Del Rosario said he believed the treaty - which calls for mutual defense in the event of an attack in "the Pacific area" - covers the South China Sea.
The United States has been providing military aid to the Philippines primarily to fight Islamic militants in the wake the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Del Rosario said that al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf has largely been defeated, estimating that only about 200 guerrillas remained.
"The Philippines' relative success in counter-insurgency coupled with pressures in the regional environment compel a reorientation of focus and resources," he said.
"A reset in our relations has therefore become an imperative to allow the alliance to continue to meet domestic goals while contributing to global stability."
China has said that it will not resort to the use of force in the South China Sea but has also warned the United States to stay out of territorial spats.
"I believe some countries now are playing with fire. And I hope the U.S. won't be burned by this fire," China's vice foreign minister Cui Tiankai said.

Philippines Sends Ship To Disputed Waters

MANILA - The Philippines said June 17 it would send its aging navy flagship into disputed South China Sea waters amid rising tensions with Beijing over their competing claims.
However defense department spokesman Eduardo Batac insisted the deployment was a routine assignment and had nothing to do with an announcement by China on June 16 that one of its maritime patrol vessels would pass through the area.

"I don't think these are connected," Batac told reporters.
"The navy conducts regular offshore patrols and we should not connect the deployment of Rajah Humabon to the deployment of this maritime vessel of China."
Batac said he was unaware if the Chinese vessel had reached waters claimed by both countries.
He also did not say when the Philippine vessel would be dispatched or exactly where it would go.
The Rajah Humabon, a former U.S. Navy frigate that served during World War II, is one of the world's oldest warships. It began service in the cash-strapped Philippine Navy in 1980.
Meanwhile, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario met with envoys of ASEAN member nations on Friday, calling on them to "take a common position" on the matter.
In the meeting with ambassadors of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, del Rosario said there should be "common approaches in addressing worrisome developments" in the South China Sea.
The Philippines has competing claims with China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei over potentially resource-rich areas in the South China Sea.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam are also members of ASEAN along with Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.
Tensions in the long-running dispute over the area have flared in recent months amid allegations by the Philippines and Vietnam that China has become increasingly aggressive in staking its territorial claims.
The Philippines accused China this month of sending naval vessels to intimidate rival claimants around the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
The Philippines also accused China of installing posts and a buoy in nearby areas, opening fire on Filipino fishermen and intimidating a Philippine oil exploration ship with a patrol vessel.
China has maintained throughout the flare-up that its has sole sovereignty over the waters, but that it intends to resolve the dispute peacefully.
Nevertheless, Chinese state media reported on Friday that China had recently staged three days of military exercises in the South China Sea and plans to boost its offshore maritime patrol force.
Del Rosario said the recent incidents showed the need for "collaboration and solidarity (on)... a recurring and an exacerbating problem."

Vietnam Holds Live-Fire Drill Amid China Tensions

HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam put on a show of military strength in the tense South China Sea on Monday, risking the ire of Beijing in the face of a deepening maritime rift with its powerful neighbor.
Relations between the nations have sunk to their lowest point in years following recent sea confrontations that reignited a long-standing dispute over sovereignty of two potentially oil-rich archipelagos.

A successful first barrage of naval artillery, lasting about four hours, took place about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off Quang Nam province in central Vietnam, said a naval officer in Danang city who asked not to be named.
He declined to reveal how many ships had been mobilized, but said no missiles were fired. A similar night drill would start at 7 p.m. and last about five hours, the officer added.
Although Vietnam's foreign ministry described it as routine annual training, analysts say the drill has raised temperatures in the South China Sea, where Asian nations have conflicting claims over potentially energy-rich waters.
The exercise "is designed to send China a message that Vietnam refuses to be pushed around," said Ian Storey, a regional security analyst with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
"I think the Chinese will react very badly to this," he added.
The drills are inside the area Vietnam claims as its 200-nautical mile economic zone.
Hanoi last month accused Chinese surveillance vessels of cutting the exploration cables of an oil survey ship inside the area. On Thursday, Vietnam alleged a similar incident in the zone, saying a Chinese fishing boat rammed the cables of another oil survey ship in a "premeditated" attack.
Beijing countered by warning Vietnam to halt all activities that it says violate China's sovereignty in the disputed area.
"No one wants a war, but the possibility of some shots being fired in anger or of some ships running into other ships has increased," said Ralph Cossa, president of Hawaii-based Pacific Forum CSIS, a research institute.
Despite that possibility, Cossa said all sides will ensure that any escalation will "not get out of control." The United States said it is "troubled" by tensions triggered by the maritime dispute.
The naval drill is about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Paracel Islands and almost 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) from the Spratlys, the archipelagos that are claimed by both nations and which straddle strategic shipping lanes.
Vietnam has said it wants to see peaceful resolution and adherence to international laws.
Beijing, too, says it is committed to peace in the South China Sea, but its more assertive maritime posture has caused concern among regional nations and beyond.
Tensions have risen this year between China and Manila, another claimant to the Spratlys, which on Monday said it would from now on refer to the South China Sea as the "West Philippine Sea".
Taiwan on the weekend reiterated its claim to the Spratlys, and said missile boats and tanks could be deployed to disputed territory. Brunei and Malaysia have also staked claims in the area.
Vietnamese bitterly recall 1,000 years of Chinese occupation and, more recently, a 1979 border war. More than 70 Vietnamese sailors were killed in 1988 when the two sides battled off the Spratlys.
About 300 people in Ho Chi Minh City and in Hanoi held anti-China rallies on Sunday to proclaim Vietnam's maritime sovereignty for the second weekend in a row. Demonstrations are rarely allowed in Vietnam.
In interviews, protesters voiced support for the naval drill. "It shows to China and to the world that we will do everything to protect our land and our sea," said Tran Bao, 36.
Tensions have spread to the Internet, where more than 200 Vietnamese websites were attacked and some defaced with Chinese flags, an Internet security firm said on Friday.

Vietnam Plans Live-Fire Drill as China Rift Grows

HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam announced June 10 that it would hold a live-fire naval drill next week in the South China Sea as an escalating maritime dispute fuels tensions with Beijing.
Relations between China and Vietnam are at their worst in years as the two countries trade accusations over recent confrontations between their ships in potentially energy-rich contested waters.

A Vietnamese naval officer told AFP that the six hours of live-fire exercises would be held on June 13 around Hon Ong island, about 25 miles off Quang Nam province in central Vietnam.
The officer declined to give the reason for the night drill or say how many vessels would be involved.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga said the exercises were part of routine annual training.
Tensions between the communist neighbors have risen sharply after Hanoi accused Chinese marine surveillance vessels of cutting the exploration cables of an oil survey ship in May inside its exclusive economic zone, where the drill will be.
On June 9 Vietnam alleged a similar incident in the zone, saying a Chinese fishing boat rammed the cables of another oil survey ship in its waters, describing it as a "premeditated" attack.
Beijing countered by warning Vietnam to halt all activities that it says violate its sovereignty in disputed South China Sea waters.
The two countries have long-standing disputes over the potentially oil-rich Paracel and Spratly archipelagos and surrounding sea.
The area where the live-fire exercise is planned is about 155 miles from the Paracels and about 620 miles from the Spratlys.
Carl Thayer, a veteran analyst of Vietnam and the South China Sea, said the drill would be a way for Vietnam to send a message, after China on June 9 also said it would conduct naval exercises.
Thayer said Vietnam was firing "a soft warning shot across the bow, rather than a real one."
But he added such drills were not unprecedented as Vietnam held an air-defense drill on land about two months ago.
In a sign of how seriously Hanoi views the situation, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung this week vowed to protect Vietnam's "incontestable" sovereignty of the Paracels and Spratlys.
Vietnam said it has since deployed eight boats to "escort" the ship involved in the May incident, without saying what kind of vessels. Analysts say the move raises the stakes in the dispute.
Beijing says it is committed to peace in the South China Sea, but its more assertive maritime posture has caused concern among regional nations.
Tensions have also risen this year between China and the Philippines, another claimant to the Spratlys, where Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also say they have a stake.
"Nobody wants war but when there is an escalation we will act," vice defense minister Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh told local media earlier this week.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned last weekend that clashes may erupt in the South China Sea unless nations with conflicting territorial claims adopt a mechanism to settle disputes peacefully.
Hundreds of people held a peaceful anti-China protest outside Beijing's embassy in Hanoi on June 5, the largest action of its kind since 2007. Protests are rare in authoritarian Vietnam.
Tensions have also spread to the Internet.
More than 200 Vietnamese websites have been attacked and some defaced with Chinese flags, an Internet security firm said June 10. The ministries of agriculture and foreign affairs are among those targeted since the beginning of June, said Nguyen Minh Duc, director of the state-linked Bach Khoa Internetwork Security Centre.
"We don't yet know if it concerns Chinese hackers," Duc said.

Philippines, Communists Aim For Peace in 18 Months

MANILA - The Philippine government and communist rebels waging one of the world's longest insurgencies are aiming to sign a peace pact within 18 months, the two sides said after holding landmark talks.
The parties released a joint statement late Feb. 21 following the end of a week of negotiations in Norway in which they committed to try and sign a "comprehensive agreement" to end hostilities by June of next year.

"The two panels expressed satisfaction over the achievements of the first round of formal talks," the statement said.
The negotiations in Oslo were the first between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) sides since 2004.
The communists have been waging a rebellion since 1969 and still have about 5,000 New People's Army guerrillas based in the mainly poor, rural areas of the Philippines.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, including dozens of rebels, civilians and security forces over the past few months.
Analysts said before the talks began in Norway that there was little chance of a quick end to the rebellion, with the communists determined to overhaul the country's economic model and railing against corruption by the nation's elite.
In his own statement released late Feb. 21, chief government negotiator Alex Padilla said even he had begun the talks with a "sense of dread" that they would be the "beginning of a dead end".
"But we have taken the first step," Padilla said.
"We have agreed on a timeframe of 18 months to produce the substantive agreements - on socio-economic reforms, on political and constitutional reforms, and on the end of hostilities and disposition of forces, leading to a final political settlement."
Nevertheless, Padilla expressed deep caution over the many hurdles still facing the peace negotiators.
"It will be hard, harder, perhaps, than anything else we have done in our lives to stay the course, which, in the first place, asks us to keep faith in the process. Are we up to this?" The next steps will include a range of lower-level working group meetings over the next few months to cover issues such as social and economic reforms.
Political and economic reforms will be discussed in another working group.
The government said it would also "work on appropriate measures to effect the expeditious release" of 14 detained communist rebel leaders that the NDF has long demanded be freed.
The government said it would also consider releasing four other communists the NDF had recently added to the list.
However, it made no firm commitment on releasing any of them.
In a reciprocal "confidence-building" measure, the communists said it would take steps towards releasing an unspecified number of people it was holding as prisoners.
One of the key reasons the previous round of peace talks broke down six years ago was a demand by the communists that the government have them removed from international terrorist lists.
However, there was no mention of the terrorism issue in the joint statement.
Another reason the talks fell apart in 2004 was the communists' distrust of then-president Gloria Arroyo, who vowed to crush the rebellion by the end of her term.
Her time in power ended in June last year with her military quest to extinguish the rebellion unfulfilled.
Her successor, President Benigno Aquino, immediately said he wanted to pursue peace talks with the communists.
He placed former human rights lawyers and other people deemed favorable by the communists on his peace negotiating panel.

Philippines And Muslim Rebels Revive Peace Talks

KUALA LUMPUR - The Philippine government and the nation's main Islamic separatist group agreed Feb. 10 to push ahead with a faltering peace process after meeting for the first time in two years.
The government hailed the meeting as a success, saying it yielded "agreements on substantive issues" and that the two sides agreed to "fast track the peace process" with another round of talks scheduled for next month.

The meeting in Kuala Lumpur also covered concerns over the emergence of a breakaway rebel faction that authorities say could undermine efforts to end one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.
The two sides said in a joint statement that they "discussed issues related to" feared rebel commander Ameril Umbrakato's split from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which was announced over the weekend.
In their first round of talks since Philippines President Benigno Aquino came to power last year, they agreed to renew the mandate of the international monitoring team in the troubled southern region for another 12 months.
They also exchanged drafts on their positions and agreed to meet again, possibly on March 29 and 30.
Chief Philippines negotiator Marvic Leonen said he opened the talks by declaring that: "We come to work with you to bring peace, not just aspire for it" and admitting a need to address historical injustices.
The government quoted MILF chief representative Mohagher Iqbal as backing its goal of reaching a settlement within one year and voicing optimism that they were now "closer to peace".
During the talks in the Malaysian capital, Leonen raised concerns over Umbrakato's departure from the 12,000-strong group which he has said could render the MILF unable to deliver on any peace settlement.
The MILF has been fighting for an independent Muslim homeland on the southern island of Mindanao since the 1970s. The conflict has claimed 150,000 lives, according to the government.
Umbrakato, who quit the rebel organization seven months ago, taking at least a thousand fighters with him, is one of two MILF senior commanders who launched deadly attacks across mostly Christian communities on Mindanao in 2008.
The attacks were in retaliation for a Supreme Court decision outlawing a proposed land deal that would have given the rebels control over what they claim as ancestral lands on Mindanao.
The attacks, which forced the suspension of the peace process until now, left nearly 400 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Both sides agreed to a new ceasefire in 2009, allowing most of the evacuees to return home.
Aquino assumed power last year, promising to bring an end to the insurgency during his six-year term.

U.S. Pledges Help For Philippine Navy

MANILA - The United States said Jan. 27 it would help boost the Philippines' capacity to patrol its waters as part of a larger goal of keeping vital Asian sea lanes open amid the rise of China.
The pledge came from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell on the first day of an inaugural security dialogue between the two allies.

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"One of the subjects for discussions tomorrow will be the bilateral steps that (we) can take to increase the Philippines' maritime capacity," Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said.
This would enhance the Philippine navy's capacity to police its waters, he told a joint news conference.
"We think this is a critical component of our partnership. Much of this work is already underway, and we seek to intensify it in the months and years ahead," he said without giving details.
The U.S. had key air and naval bases in the Philippines until 1992, when the Philippine senate rejected a new treaty.
The U.S. ruled the Philippines as colonial power from 1901 to 1946 and the two countries remain linked by a 1951 mutual defense pact.
In recent years, as China's economic influence grew in the region, its new-found political assertiveness saw it come in dispute with its neighbors over claims to areas of the South China Sea.
China, Taiwan and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam all claim the potentially oil-rich Spratly chain of islands in the South China Sea.
The area is also one of the world's most important shipping lanes.
"I think there's a broad recognition that this is a critical waterway, and its criticality will likely increase in the times ahead," Campbell said.
While China has asserted that the disputes must be settled directly between itself and rival claimants, Campbell repeated the U.S. position that a broader framework was better.
"We think maritime issues should be addressed in larger settings as well, and we think that's important in order to develop confidence on these issues and the larger Asia-Pacific region," he said.