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U.S. NEWSWednesday 18 November
In signal to China, Obama to give 2 ships to Philippines
JOSH LEDERMAN search vessel — were part Obama said as he opened U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to reporters after touring
KATHLEEN HENNESSEY of a broader American a six-day tour of the Phil- the BRP Gregorio del Pilar in Manila, Philippines, Tuesday, Nov.
Associated Press plan to scale up assistance ippines and Malaysia. He 17, 2015. The BRP Gregorio del Pilar is an advanced Philippine
WASHINGTON/MANILA, to naval forces in South- said the ships would help Navy frigate once owned by the United States. While in Manila,
Philippines (AP) — With east Asia, where coastal the Philippines navigate Obama will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
a towering warship be- nations feel threatened by and patrol its territorial wa- summit with nearly two dozen other leaders.
hind him, President Barack China’s aggressive moves ters.
Obama announced Tues- to assert control over the Obama never mentioned (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
day that the U.S. will hand South China Sea. Obama China by name as he stood
over two ships to the Philip- said the U.S. had an “iron- in front of the BRP Gregorio
pine Navy to boost its mari- clad commitment” to the del Pilar, a onetime U.S.-
time security capabilities, in Philippines — a U.S. treaty owned frigate, but the
a bid to show the U.S. and ally — and a mutual com- intended recipient of his
its allies won’t be cowed mitment to free and safe message was clear. As re-
by China in disputed wa- navigation at sea. gional tensions with China
ters far off its coast. “More capable navies, in have simmered in recent
Obama said the pair of partnership with the Unit- years, the U.S. has sought
ships — one U.S. Coast ed States, are critical to out symbolic ways to coun-
Guard cutter, one re- the security of this region,” ter Beijing’s claims in the
region without putting itself and Kuala Lumpur, Obama
in direct confrontation with planned a particular focus
the powerhouse nation. on touting the Trans-Pacific
Earlier this month, U.S. De- Partnership that the U.S. re-
fense Secretary Ash Carter cently struck with 11 other
boarded a U.S. aircraft car- nations — China not in-
rier plodding through the cluded. The sweeping free
South China Sea, a week trade agreement is at the
after a U.S. Navy destroy- heart of Obama’s Asia
er patrolled within seven policy, but its prospects for
miles of a reef where Chi- ratification by U.S. lawmak-
na is building an artificial ers remain uncertain.
island and has asserted a Flanked by U.S. and Philip-
12-mile territorial bound- pine troops, Obama said
ary. The U.S. has refused to he would seek to provide
comply with China’s self- another $140 million in
proclaimed air defense maritime security aid to
zone over the nearby East Southeast Asia next year,
China Sea. although it was unclear
Obama’s announcement whether Congress would
came at the start of his approve those funds.
ninth trip to Asia, and this The Philippine govern-
one, like the others, was ment’s eagerness for more
designed to illustrate his ef- muscular U.S. military assis-
forts to strengthen allianc- tance here illustrates how
es as part of his seven-year concerns about China
campaign to increase U.S. appear to have super-
influence in Asia. seded the nation’s resent-
“You can count on the ment of its former colonial
United States,” the presi- master and its reluctance
dent said. During back- to give U.S. troops free
to-back summits in Manila reign.q
