MANILA: The US Pacific commander yesterday emphasised the Philippines’ importance as a military ally, as Filipino forces were involved in an increasingly tense standoff with Chinese ships in the South China Sea.
“Our 62-year alliance with the Philippines remains key to our efforts to ensure the stability and prosperity of the Western Pacific,” Rear Admiral Robert Thomas told reporters in Manila.
He sailed to the Philippine capital yesterday aboard his command ship, the USS Blue Ridge, days after the latest of a series of hostile encounters between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.
China said its coastguard on March 9 blocked two Philippine-flagged vessels approaching Second Thomas Shoal, which is guarded by a small group of Filipino marines but is also claimed by China.
The Philippine military evaded the blockade by airdropping supplies to the troops.
The shoal is part of the Spratlys, a chain of islets and reefs that sit near key shipping lanes, are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are also believed to lie atop huge oil and gas reserves. They are around 200 kilometres from the western Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,100 kilometres from the nearest major Chinese land mass.
China claims most of the South China Sea, even waters approaching the coasts of its neighbours. Philippines grounded an old navy ship at Second Thomas Shoal in 1999, four years after China built structures on a nearby Filipino-claimed reef. Filipino troops have kept a presence there ever since.
On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei warned that China “will never allow any form of occupation” of the Second Thomas Shoal.
afp
