Posted on 10/10/2013 6:47:36 PM PDT by TexGrill
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gave tacit backing to the Philippines' stance in a tense maritime dispute with China on Thursday, saying that all countries had a right to seek arbitration to resolve competing territorial claims.
The Philippines, a U.S. ally, has angered China by launching an arbitration case with the United Nations to challenge the legal validity of Beijing's sweeping claims over the resource-rich South China Sea.
The United States has refrained from taking sides in the dispute, one of Asia's biggest security headaches, but has expressed a national interest in freedom of navigation through one of the world's busiest shipping channels.
"All claimants have a responsibility to clarify and align their claims with international law. They can engage in arbitration and other means of peaceful negotiation," Kerry told leaders at the East Asia Summit in Brunei, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
"Freedom of navigation and overflight is a linchpin of security in the Pacific," he added.
China claims almost the entire oil- and gas-rich South China Sea, overlapping with claims from Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam. The last four are members of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The row is one of the region's biggest flashpoints amid China's military build-up and the U.S. strategic "pivot" back to Asia signalled by the Obama administration in 2011.
Diplomatic efforts to ease tensions are now centred on Chinese talks with ASEAN to frame a code of conduct for disputes in the South China Sea, but Beijing has restricted talks to low-level consultations rather than formal negotiations.
(Excerpt) Read more at abs-cbnnews.com ...
Given half a chance, the Chinese would claim the whole dang world, if they coud get away with it.
Backing them is how we’ll end up having to run it, but they kicked us out of Subic, and they all cheered about it.
Give our squids free boom-boom and we’ll make it explicit.
Let them sweat a bit, I say.
The problem with the Spratleys is that they look like no-man’s land, stuck out in the South China Sea, but they are very oil rich. Several countries have claims on them.
Glad to see you have nothing but contempt for them. How many Filipinos died alongside US. troops in WW2 ? And how many Filipino-Americans are in the U.S. military now ? A lot. So you are belittling their extended family.
Your attitude is un-American and fits snugly alongside the Chinese.
People like you really have no place in the U.S. of the future. But you know that.
And , it’s the U.S. that needs countries like the Philippines on their side in the future. It’s growing at 5%+ a year. China would be really happy to put that under their umbrella.
I'll bite --how many, then?
So some Phillipinos died fighting invaders of the Phillipines --okay.
That's to their credit, sure. But can you explain for me why we owe them something for that?
I mean present an argument based on logic and not just screaming.
” but they kicked us out of Subic”
__________________________________________
That is old news and means nothing.
Come up with a new gig.
“Tacit backing”, that’s a whole step up from “voting present”!
Obama must be feeling his oats.
Thanks TexGrill.
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