OFFERS SUPPORT TO PHL AND THAILAND
[PHOTO
- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shakes hands with US Ambassador
to the Philippine Harry Thomas Jr. upon her arrival at the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport on Tuesday to take part in the commemoration of the 60th
anniversary of the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty.
PHOTO BY JESSIE LAURETA]
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE,
GUAM, NOVEMBER 16, 2011 (MANILA TIMES)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will announce new support for the
Philippines and flood-hit Thailand as she shores up ties with key US allies,
officials said on Tuesday.
Clinton was due at 5 p.m. also on Tuesday in the Philippines and will head
later this week to Thailand, part of a renewed US focus on Asia.
Hours after President Benigno Aquino 3rd's arrival from the 19th Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum in Hawaii, the US State secretary arrived ahead of
schedule at about 4:30 p.m. on board a US government aircraft in Balagbag Area
inside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Pasay City [Metro Manila].
Wearing a black suit, Clinton disembarked from the plane at about 4:45 p.m.
and waved to members of the press before boarding a service car from the US
Embassy.
[PHOTO - RAINY WELCOME: United States Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton waves at the crowd of well-wishers on her arrival at the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport in Pasay City on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 15, 2011.
Clinton is in Manila for a meeting with President Benigno S. Aquino III. BULLETIN (Photo by LJ PASION)]
Despite heavy rains, tight security was imposed by the US Secret Service
while waiting for the US top diplomat's arrival.
Among those who welcomed Clinton was Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose
Cuisia, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis and US Ambassador to the
Philippines Harry Thomas Jr.
According to Cuisia, Clinton's visit to the country was significant because
it would strengthen the ties between the US and other Southeast Asian countries
particularly the Philippines.
Earlier, the visitor announced her plans to visit the Philippines upon the
invitation of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.
President Barack Obama was traveling separately to Australia, another US
long-time ally in the region.
Officials accompanying Clinton, whose plane had made a brief refueling stop
in the US territory of Guam, said that she would hold talks on Wednesday with
President Aquino and tour a warship, at a time of high tension between Manila
and Beijing over disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea [South China
Sea].
The United States recently provided the Philippines with a destroyer and
Clinton will discuss offering a second one, the officials added.
They said that Clinton will also look for ways to step up cooperation at sea.
Recent US military efforts with the Philippines—for nearly 50 years an
American colony — focused on fighting Islamic guerrillas in southern Mindanao.
"We are now in the process of diversifying and changing the nature of our
engagement. We will continue those efforts in the South [Mindanao], but we are
focusing more on maritime capabilities," a senior State Department official said
on condition of anonymity.
A Defense Department official said that the United States was not seeking to
stir up tensions in the South China Sea, where Beijing is locked in myriad
disputes with countries including the Philippines and Vietnam.
The Philippines has "what they feel are legitimate claims in the South China
Sea and they are being contested by other countries," the defense official
added.
"We're very sensitive to making sure that this does not in any way alarm or
provoke anybody else," he said.
But relations between the United States and China have been uneasy, with
Obama pressing President Hu Jintao during a weekend summit on a range of issues
from intellectual-property rights to the level of the Chinese yuan.
Obama welcomed leaders from 20 other Pacific Rim economies to the weekend
summit in his native Hawaii where he built momentum for an emerging free trade
agreement that would span the Pacific—but does not include China.
He and Clinton have vowed to put a new focus on the Asia-Pacific, saying that
the United States wants to help build the emerging institutions of the
fast-growing region that is vital both for the US economy and security.
In a speech last week at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Clinton said that
the United States was "updating" relationships with its five treaty-bound
regional allies—Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand.
"These five alliances are the fulcrum for our efforts in the Asia-Pacific,"
she added.
The alliances "leverage our regional presence and enhance our regional
leadership at a time of evolving security challenges," Clinton said.
While US policymakers have been upbeat about the Philippines under President
Aquino, they have been concerned over Thailand after an extended period of
political chaos.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the sister of coup-ousted former premier
Thaksin Shinawatra, came to power only in August and has come under intense
pressure as she tackles major floods that have threatened the capital Bangkok.
The State Department official said that Clinton would offer a "very
substantial" aid package to Thailand and hoped to reach out to the public in
America's oldest Asian ally.
With reports from Mayvelin U. Caraballo, Bernice Camille
V. Bauzon, Jaime Pilapil and Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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