CLINTON IN MANILA FORUM
Clinton to Spratlys claimants: Don't use intimidation ploy
11/16/2011 | 04:18 PM
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in Manila for a two-day visit, on Wednesday urged claimants to the South China Sea not to resort to intimidation to push their cause in the potentially oil-rich waters, an indirect reference to China ahead of a regional leaders' summit.
She said disputes in the sea lanes, a possible flashpoint in Asia, should be resolved through the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which defined rules on how countries can use the world's oceans and their resources.
That could embolden Southeast Asia's hand against China, which has said it would not submit to international arbitration over competing claims to the area, believed to be rich in natural resources and a major shipping lane.
Clinton said the US was expecting a candid discussion of the maritime dispute at a regional forum in Bali this weekend attended by China and other Asia-Pacific leaders.
"The United States does not take a position on any territorial claim, because any nation with a claim has a right to assert it," she said in Manila, while marking the 60th anniversary of the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty.
"But they do not have a right to pursue it through intimidation or coercion. They should be following international law, the rule of law, the U.N. Convention on Law of the Sea," she added.
Clinton said the US recognizes that its alliance with the Philippines has to be updated and brought to the 21st century. "That will require working with the Philippines to provide greater support for external defense, particularly maritime domain awareness, defensive ones, maritime boundaries," she said.
She noted that intensive consultations have begun between the governments of the Philippines and US to determine exactly what the specifics of such an approach will be.
China says it has historical sovereignty over the South China Sea and so supersedes claims of other countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Philippines bases its claim to part of the sea on the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which establishes jurisdiction over natural resources 200 nautical miles (370 km) from a country's coast.
There have been concerns about China's enforcement of its claim this year in areas claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines, including the cutting of cables on survey ships, threats to ram some vessels and breaches of airspace by military aircraft.
Smaller Southeast Asian claimants view a US presence and a multilateral approach to negotiations as strengthening their stance against China's all-encompassing claim on the sea.
"President Obama will reaffirm our national interest in the maintenance of peace and security in the region and internationally," Clinton said.
She said that included freedom of navigation, the rule of law and unimpeded lawful commerce, with the United States seeing UNCLOS as the overriding framework for territorial disputes. — Reuters with Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/238694/nation/clinton-to-spratlys-claimants-dont-...
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Student leader disrupts Clinton forum in Manila
11/16/2011 | 03:50 PM
A campus journalist on Wednesday briefly disrupted the forum at the National Museum with visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by shouting protest slogans and unfurling a crude banner calling for an end to the US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
"Junk VFA," shouted the student, who was identified as Marjohara Tucay. He is the editor-in-chief of the Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of the state-run University of the Philippines in Diliman.
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http://www.gmanews.tv/story/238691/nation/student-leader-disrupts-clinton-for...
Video Source: GMA News
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SPRATLYS: CHINA DEPLOYS A GIANT OIL RIGS TO SPRATLYS IN WEST PHILIPPINE SEA - TO DRILL IN JULYby PINASISM620,311 views
the Philippine government would not like the idea of better educating its people because that would not be good for the corrupt government. People would become smarter and could not be manipulated no more.
homer30 2 weeks ago
Omg, she KNOWS the local issues. :) I wonder how that heckler got in there. We need VFA and the Mutual Defense Treaty because that's the only thing preventing China from buying out all of our politicians. I'm just saying.
carlingskie2 2 months ago
type ko si maxene kaso nagtanong siya ng stupid question dito.lalo tuloy nareinforce image of atenistas being oblivious of how the world really works.
good job tucay kahit marami kang haters na mentalidad porke tibak komunista ala kim jong-il na.
s2p3r 3 months ago
@relativ6192
Right on!
motonegros 3 months ago
@motonegros what he was saying was "JUNK VFA! THERE IS NOTHING MUTUAL IN THE MUTUAL DEFENSE TREATY!"
relativ6192 3 months ago
What was the protester saying?
motonegros 3 months ago