US President Barack Obama yesterday ended an Asian tour with a warning to China against using force in territorial disputes, as Chinese authorities accused the US president of ganging up with “troublemaking” allies.
The barbs ensured a tense finish to a four-nation trip dominated by the worsening maritime rows between China and US allies in the region.
“We believe that nations and peoples have the right to live in security and peace, to have their sovereignty and territorial integrity respected,” Obama told a gathering of US and Philippine troops in Manila. “We believe that international law must be upheld, that freedom of navigation must be preserved and commerce must not be impeded. We believe that disputes must be resolved peacefully and not by intimidation or force.”
Photo: AFP
The Philippines has been embroiled in one of the highest-profile territorial disputes with China, over tiny islets and reefs in the South China Sea. Beijing claims nearly all of the South China Sea.
The Philippines and the US signed an agreement on Monday that will allow a greater US military presence on Philippine bases.
Obama yesterday sought to reassure the Philippines that the US would back its ally in the event it was attacked, citing a 1951 mutual defense treaty.
Photo: Reuters
“This treaty means our two nations pledge, and I am quoting, ‘Our common determination to defend themselves from external armed attacks,’” Obama said.
“And no potential aggressor can be under the illusion that either of them stands alone. In other words, our commitment to defend the Philippines is ironclad,” he said.
Nevertheless, Obama did not specifically mention coming to the aid of Manila if there was a conflict over the contested South China Sea areas, as his hosts had hoped.
While offering pledges of protection to Tokyo and Manila, Obama also insisted the US was not seeking to counter or contain China.
Nevertheless, an editorial in the state-run China Daily yesterday signaled Chinese authorities viewed Obama’s trip as a tour of anti-Chinese hostility.
“It is increasingly obvious that Washington is taking Beijing as an opponent,” the editorial said.
“With Obama reassuring the US allies of protection in any conflict with China, it is now clear that Washington is no longer bothering to conceal its attempt to contain China’s influence in the region,” the editorial said.
The editorial warned against believing Obama’s “sweet promises” of a new, constructive relationship between the US and China, and instead outlined what it described as a “grim geopolitical reality.”
“Ganging up with its troublemaking allies, the US is presenting itself as a security threat to China,” the editorial said.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
SECURITY: The New Zealand and Australian navies also sailed military vessels through the Strait yesterday to assert the right of freedom of navigation The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Wednesday made its first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait in response to the intrusion by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s sovereign airspace last month, Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The Japanese news platform reported that the destroyer JS Sazanamisailed down through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, citing sources in the Japanese government with knowledge of the matter. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on the reports at a regular briefing because they concern military operations. Military vessels from New Zealand and Australia also sailed through the Strait on the same day, Wellington’s defense ministry
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’