COMMENT ... FAIRE ?
Du
fait des derniers développements, de cette Chine qui semble vouloir intensifier
la pression sur ses revendications territoriales en mer de l’Ouest des
Philippines, le gouvernement philippin se décide, semble-t-il, à faire appel au
grand-frère américain.
Mais
que pouvait-il faire d’autre ?
La négociation semble être refusée par Pékin et les tentatives internationales de résolution du conflit sont systématiquement ignorées par l’ancien Empire du milieu.
La
Chine, du de sa puissance, impose sa présence militaire dans
les eaux situées à l’ouest de l’archipel des Philippines et ce, bien à l’intérieur
de la zone économique exclusive de l’archipel.
Présence qui ne repose sur aucune base juridique et qui est en
contradiction avec les lois et traités internationaux en vigueurs.
En
conséquence de quoi et sous certaines conditions, le gouvernement philippin s’apprête
à ouvrir quelques-unes de ses bases aux troupes américaines.
Décision
unilatérale de Pékin d’obliger tout navire circulant dans les eaux comprises
entre le sud de la Chine et pratiquement
le Détroit de Malacca, y compris les navires de pêche, d’obtenir une
autorisation délivrée par la Chine. Ce qui est inacceptable selon les lois de
la mer et de la libre circulation des navires dans les eaux internationales.
Occupation
illégale par la Chine du Scarborough Shoal et, semble-t-il, construction de
structures permanentes sur ce dernier.
Attaques à l’aide de canon à eau de bateaux de pêche philippins à l’intérieur de la EEZ, empêchement, par des navires de guerre armés ,du ravitaillement d’un post avancé philippin sur le Thomas II Schoal.
Attaques à l’aide de canon à eau de bateaux de pêche philippins à l’intérieur de la EEZ, empêchement, par des navires de guerre armés ,du ravitaillement d’un post avancé philippin sur le Thomas II Schoal.
Tout
ceci demeure inquiétant.
Quelques gugus, qu’ils soient Américains, Russes ou Chinois, semblent vouloir contrôler, uniquement en leurs noms, le monde. Peut-être serait-il temps que les peuples, seuls garants de la démocratie, reprennent les choses en main.
The Philippines has agreed to allow the United States access to the
country’s military bases under a new security deal being negotiated by the two
allies, amid mounting concern over China’s increasing assertiveness in the
disputed waters of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).
The offer was made during a sixth round of talks held in Washington last
week on an accord that will allow increased US military presence in the
country, officials said on Friday.
The two sides hope to finalize terms for an “Agreement on Enhanced
Defense Cooperation” before US President Barack Obama embarks on a visit to
Asia, including the Philippines, next month.
Philippine officials said negotiators hurdled a major obstacle in the
negotiations at the Washington talks last week.
Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino, the head of the Philippine
panel, said the US negotiators have agreed that Philippine authorities can have
access to US facilities set up inside local military bases to show Philippine
control over these areas, a sensitive issue concerning sovereignty among
Filipinos.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin has said that disagreements over the
issue of access and control had been delaying the negotiations on the new accord.
“Access has always been a primordial concern” for the government, Batino
said, adding that the deal was “80 percent” done.
“It is safe to say that there will be language that will provide that
the Philippine authorities would have access to the areas provided to the US
armed forces,” he told a news conference on Friday.
“As a concept, access is assured, being within Philippine military
bases, and also the right of the base commander to have access to specific
areas shared with them has already been agreed in principle by both panels,”
said Ambassador Eduardo Malaya, a member of the Philippine panel.
China factor
The Philippines is seeking a stronger defense cooperation with the US as
its territorial dispute with China over areas in the South China Sea intensifies.
The United States plans to “rebalance” its forces in the Asia-Pacific
region, and has similar arrangements with Australia and Singapore, as part of
its strategy to counter China.
Negotiations began last August on an agreement that would allow larger
numbers of US troops to have temporary access to Philippine military camps and
bring in aircraft, ships and humanitarian equipment.
Hundreds of US troops have already been deployed in the country’s south
to provide counterterrorism training to Filipino soldiers since 2002.
US military access in the Philippines is currently limited to annual
joint exercises and port visits.
Nearly a century of US military presence in the Philippines ended in
1992 when the United States closed its bases, including what were then among
the largest overseas US military facilities. The Philippine Senate voted a year
earlier not to renew the lease on the bases.
While that ended a special relationship going back 40 years between the
United States and its former colony which won its independence in 1946, an
alliance has endured.
No US bases
The Philippine negotiators did not say whether there will be any limit
to the number of US troops or their length of stay.
Batino, however, said any US military facility will not be “a base within
a base.”
The Constitution disallows foreign military bases unless under a treaty
approved by the Philippine Senate. Opponents of the new accord say it is a way
to permanently station US troops in the country to circumvent the
constitutional prohibition on foreign bases.
Batino said the agreement would be legally binding but would not require
ratification by the Senate, which could delay the actual US deployment.
Under the draft accord, the Philippines will allow US forces joint use
of facilities in several military bases like those in Manila, Clark, Palawan,
Cebu, Nueva Ecija and La Union, said a military official with knowledge of the
negotiations.
“We are only offering US military forces access to fewer military
bases,” said Malaya.
The Philippines refused a request for use of civilian airfields and
ports, like Subic Freeport Bay, Laoag and Davao international airports,
according to the military official.
Philippine and US negotiators are set to hold a seventh round of talks
in Manila at the end of the month.
He said that the Philippines has maintained its position that the
agreement’s duration “would be shorter than 20 years.”
The officials declined to set an April deadline for the talks, citing
the need to ensure that language was in line with Philippine laws and yielded
the maximum benefits for the hosts.
“If the negotiations are
successfully concluded and that happens before the arrival of President Obama,
then we will be happy of course,” the officials said.
US presence a deterrent
The Philippines sees hosting more US forces as an important part of its
strategy to counter an increasingly assertive China in an escalating dispute
over rival claims to the South China Sea, and to help provide humanitarian
assistance during natural disasters.
“It will not stop China from its bullying tactics, but it will become
more cautious and might exercise self-restraint due to the US presence,” said
Rommel Banlaoi, an analyst at the Philippine Institute of Peace, Violence and
Terrorism Research.
“The Philippines will also benefit from more exercises and more
assistance from the US and it will elevate the Philippines to a major non-Nato
ally in the Pacific,” he said.
Friction between China and the Philippines and other states in the
region over disputed territories in the South China Sea has increased since
last year despite diplomatic efforts to forge an agreement on maritime conduct.
The dispute revolves round competing claims over the Spratlys, a group
of 250 uninhabitable islets spread over 165,000 square miles, and other groups
of shoals and islets that the Philippines claims as part of its territory as
they lie well within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Just a working title
On Sunday, three Chinese Coast Guard ships stopped two Filipino civilian
vessels from delivering food, water and construction materials to troops based
on a ship that was deliberately run aground on reef in the Spratlys, the
Ayungin Shoal, in 1999 to reinforce the Philippines’ claim.
The Philippines called the Chinese actions “a clear and urgent threat to
the rights and interests of the Philippines.”
The framework agreement was previously referred to as an “Agreement on
Increased Rotational Presence,” which Batino said was “just a working title.”
The change to “Enhanced Defense Cooperation” as a title just manifests
the fluidity of the negotiations because during the constant discussions,
“language may be changed from time to time,” he said.
“We also believe Enhanced Defense Cooperation captures the essence of
the agreement which is to elevate robust cooperation with us to a higher level
owing to the shared history between the two militaries and conduct of training
activities under the VFA (Visiting forces Agreement) for 15 years. It’s just
time even for a further enhancement of our cooperation,” Batino said.
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