South China Sea Strategies for other nations (Not China)

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of States John Kerry met Cambodian leaders on Tuesday but failed to secure their commitment to a more robust stance with Southeast Asian nations against China's pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Kerry was in Cambodia after a visit to neighboring Laos as part of an effort to urge unity among leaders of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations before a summit with President Barack Obama in Sunnylands, California, next month.

In Phnom Penh, Kerry met Hun Sen, Asia's longest serving prime minister, and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong for what Kerry described as "candid and constructive" meetings.

Hor Namhong said Cambodia's position on the South China Sea was unchanged. It believed individual countries should settle disputes among themselves without the involvement of ASEAN, he said.

That mirrors China's position that ASEAN is not a party to territorial disputes, so rows should be resolved bilaterally.

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry holds "I love Cambodia" t-shirt that he bought for his …
"We want it open to negotiations in the future between countries who made claims in the South China Sea," Hor Namhong said.

China claims almost all the South China Sea, which is believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, and has been building up facilities on islands it controls. Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines also have claims.

Laos is the 2016 chair of ASEAN. Kerry said Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong told him on Monday that Laos wants to sea a unified association and avoid the militarization of the South China Sea.

When Cambodia was ASEAN chair in 2012, it was accused of obstructing a consensus in the bloc over standing up to China's assertive pursuit of its South China Sea claims.

"Cambodia was not a court that could judge that this island belongs to this or that country," Hor Namhong said on Tuesday.

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is welcomed by Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Pen …
Kerry did not refer to the South China Sea in a statement after the meetings but stressed that the United States and ASEAN have a strategic partnership "and Cambodia plays a role in fully defining that partnership".

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, answering a reporter's question about a U.S. official urging ASEAN to unite to protect maritime rights, said that official did not represent ASEAN.

"I hope the United States can play a constructive role for peace and stability in Asia Pacific region and not sow discord,” she told reporters at a regular press briefing.

Cambodia said it would work with the U.S. on efforts to combat Islamic State, Kerry said.

Kerry was due in China later on Tuesday, where he is expected to press Beijing to put more curbs on North Korea after its nuclear test this month and reiterate U.S. concerns about China's behavior in the South China Sea.

He called North Korea's nuclear program "about one of the most serious issues on the planet today, which is a clearly reckless and dangerous, evolving security threat in the hands of somebody who is questionable in terms of judgment and has proven thus to China".

A senior official of the U.S. State Department said Kerry was expected to stress the need for a united front in response to North Korea through additional U.N. sanctions and for a tough unilateral response from China, which is North Korea's main ally and neighbor.

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ahojunk said:

Some pictures of Lankiam Cay, controlled by the Philippines.

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View attachment 24467

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Blackstone said:

Philippines is scrappy, I'll give them that.

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PanAsian said:

All the claimants were scrappy for decades. Maybe with the exception of the ROC since Taiping island was from the get go a cushy real island with fresh water and such.

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SamuraiBlue said:

How does Japan not fighting ISIS have anything to do with SEA might I ask?

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SamuraiBlue said:

How does Japan not fighting ISIS have anything to do with SEA might I ask?

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Equation said:

They could help the Philippine government to fight some of the Rebels down south and growing concern for ISIS over in that region.

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On June 5, visiting Philippine president Benigno Aquino said at a press conference in Japan that the two countries would soon start talks on a new pact that would allow Tokyo access to Philippine military bases.

According to The Philippine Star, on the last day of his four-day visit to Japan, Aquino revealed that Tokyo and Manila had discussed such a pact during their summit meeting and that talks could begin soon.

“The Philippines does welcome this development and we will be initiating all the diplomatic requirements to come up with a Visiting Forces Agreement,” Aquino

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during a televised press conference with the Japan National Press Club.

In that press conference, Aquino noted that as of now, only the United States and Australia had a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the Philippines. Adding Japan to that list would seem to make sense. Japan has been a strategic partner since 2011, and both sides have boosted the defense side of their relationship significantly over the past few years (See: “

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”). As I pointed out in a previous piece, defense ties are set to grow even stronger in the future as the two strategic partners vowed in a joint declaration issued during Aquino’s recent visit to conclude an agreement on the transfer of defense equipment and technology and expand bilateral and multilateral trainings and exercises (See: “

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”). A new VFA was not mentioned in the joint declaration but was reportedly discussed.

As Aquino himself pointed out, even if cooperation between the two strategic partners were restricted mostly to areas such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, such access would pave the way for greater coordination and interoperability.

The use of Philippine bases on a limited and rotational basis would also be useful for Japan as Tokyo seeks to make a more ‘proactive contribution to peace.’ For instance, as I have pointed out before, if Japan were to conduct patrols in the South China Sea in concert with the United States in the future, refueling close to the area in the Philippines would enable the Japan Self Defense Forces to operate for a longer time and over a larger area (See: “

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”).

Of course, the idea still has some way to go before becoming a reality. The two sides would need to work out the exact terms of the VFA between themselves. And as Aquino pointed out, the Philippine Senate would then need to approve of any such agreement with Japan as it did in the case of Australia and the United States.

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