Clinton affirms Philippines ties
Source: Agencies |
November 17, 2011, Thursday
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IN a highly symbolic ceremony aboard a guided-missile destroyer yesterday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton underlined America's military support for the Philippines as the island nation engages in an increasingly tense dispute with China over claims in the South China Sea.
On the USS Fitzgerald in Manila Bay, Clinton and her Philippine counterpart, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, signed a declaration calling for multilateral talks to resolve maritime disputes such as those over the South China Sea.
"The United States does not take any position on any territorial claim because any nation has a right to assert it. But they do not have a right to pursue it through intimidation or coercion," Clinton said.
Clinton said that at this week's ASEAN summit in Bali, Indonesia, the US "will certainly expect and participate in very open and frank discussions," including on the maritime challenges in the region.
On Tuesday, China said it opposed bringing up the issue at the summit.
The US said it was helping its longtime Asian ally reinforce its weak navy.
A senior US State Department official traveling with Clinton told reporters that America's military assistance to the Philippines will increasingly turn to bolstering its naval power.
The US recently provided the Philippines with a destroyer, and the official said a second was to be delivered soon.
On the USS Fitzgerald in Manila Bay, Clinton and her Philippine counterpart, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, signed a declaration calling for multilateral talks to resolve maritime disputes such as those over the South China Sea.
"The United States does not take any position on any territorial claim because any nation has a right to assert it. But they do not have a right to pursue it through intimidation or coercion," Clinton said.
Clinton said that at this week's ASEAN summit in Bali, Indonesia, the US "will certainly expect and participate in very open and frank discussions," including on the maritime challenges in the region.
On Tuesday, China said it opposed bringing up the issue at the summit.
The US said it was helping its longtime Asian ally reinforce its weak navy.
A senior US State Department official traveling with Clinton told reporters that America's military assistance to the Philippines will increasingly turn to bolstering its naval power.
The US recently provided the Philippines with a destroyer, and the official said a second was to be delivered soon.
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