US Senators Will Arm Allies To Ready For Asia/Pacific Clashes In South China Sea

MANILA, Philippines — A U.S.-China confrontation in Asia is unlikely but Washington is committed to help bolster the military firepower of its allies like the Philippines amid territorial disputes with Beijing, two U.S. senators said Tuesday.

The Philippines has turned to Washington for warships, fighter jets and radar to bolster its anemic military after accusing Chinese ships last year of repeatedly intruding into areas it claims in the South China Sea's disputed Spratly Islands and disrupting oil exploration in its territorial waters.

Sen. John McCain, however, said he did not expect any major conflict erupting between the United States and China but reiterated Washington's commitment to maintain its presence in Asia and bolster the military firepower of its allies to counterbalance China's dominance.

"We do not foresee a conflict or confrontation with China," McCain said in a news conference in Manila, where he and three other U.S. senators held talks with Philippine officials on bolstering defense and trade ties.

But he added the best way to guarantee Asia's stability was for Washington to build a strong military presence in the region as well as robust alliances with its allies.

With the U.S. drawing down its military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, McCain said America will intensify its deployment of air and naval assets to Asia, increase joint military exercises with allies and bolster trade.

"We simply cannot allow one nation, in this case China, to exercise disproportionate control over these waterways," Lieberman said.

"We're not going to let those claims to be settled by force or by bullying," he said. "We're going to make sure to the best of our ability that they're settled as a matter of negotiations, multilateral negotiations and international rule of law."

China wants bilateral negotiations to resolve the longstanding conflicts. It has warned non-claimants led by the United States from intervening.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• spratly
• islands
• west
• philippine
• sea
• south
• china
• senator
• john
• mccain
• joseph
• lieberman
• sheldon
• whitehouse
• kelly
• ayotte
• united
• states
• manila
• philippines
• navy
• army
• marines
• air
• force
• afp
• pnp
• coast
• guard
• nation
• nato
• ally
• allies
• asean
• unclos
• Asia