Should The U.S. Provide Military Assistance To Philippine Supply Missions In The South China Sea?

Image Credit: Flickr/ U.S. Navy

Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat: Philippines Asks for US Military Assistance in South China Sea

Manila feels harassed by Beijing when resupplying its military personnel in the West Philippine Sea.

Last week, Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin requested military assistance from the head of U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris Jr., to strengthen the Philippines’ position in the South China Sea, AFP reports.

According to Colonel Restituto Padilla, a military spokersperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), “[i]t was a specific request on the part of the secretary of national defense to Harris to get their assistance in… resupplying and rotating troops.”

He emphasized that Admiral Harris made no commitment during the meeting to fulfill the request concerning the “West Philippine Sea” (Manila’s name for the closest section of South China Sea). “They just took our requests and the details still have to be discussed,” Padilla said. Reuters, however, did report that U.S. Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez told local media that Harris pledged his support to help the United States’ oldest ally in the Asia-Pacific region.

WNU Editor: If the U.S. agrees to this Philippine request they better send in more than one ship. This is a recipe for a confrontation with China.