The US said it would seek to help defuse tensions in the strategic and resource-rich South China Sea as it was set to hold talks with China in Hawaii yesterday.
Tensions in the 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.
“The United States has no intention to fan the flames in the South China Sea and we have a very strong interest in the maintenance of peace and stability,” Assistant US Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters on Friday.
He said he expected the South China Sea disputes to be raised at the US-China meeting in Honolulu, which is part of the two countries’ strategic and economic dialogue. He was to attend the talks.
“We’ve been very clear that the United States does not take a position on sovereignty issues, but we also have strong principles that are long-standing in the maintenance of freedom of navigation, and free and unimpeded legal commerce and the maintenance of peace and stability” said Campbell, the top US diplomat for East Asia.
“Those principles are long-standing and will continue, and we underscore them in all of our interactions in the Asia-Pacific region,” he added. “It is not our desire to see, as I said, these flames fanned. We want recent tensions to subside and cooler heads to prevail.”
Meanwhile, Washington has vowed to boost the Philippines’ intelligence capabilities in the South China Sea, Manila said yesterday.
This comes after the US said on Thursday it was ready to provide hardware to modernize the military of its close, but impoverished ally.
US National Director for Intelligence (NDI) James Clapper made the commitment in a meeting with Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario in Washington.
Del Rosario is in the US seeking help for the Philippines’ poorly equipped military.
“The US 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 about 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 over that 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.
The Philippines had sought to modernize its military following a series of incidents with China in the South China Sea, particularly in the Spratly Islands (南沙群島), a chain of islets believed to sit on vast mineral resources.
However, a spokeswoman for Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said the renewed ties between the US and the Philippines should not agitate China.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Tawain, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim all or part of the South China Sea which includes the Spratlys.
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