BBC News - Philippines seeks US muscle on South China Sea
'Vital area'
Protecting an oil rig will be one of the exercises the Philippines performs with the US military this spring. A Philippines delegation visited Washington in January to talk about enhanced US military support in the South China Sea.
"This area is vital to the United States," Chief of US Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert said recently. "It's been an area vital to our navy and our focus for decades, because of the trade routes, the large economies."
Adm Greenert said the challenge was to keep trade routes open - and peaceful - while keeping belligerence to a minimum.
China's view is that the US should mind its own business.
"Any interference from outside forces or a multilateral discussion will only complicate matters, rather than resolving them," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin said in November.
China points out that the $30bn in trade the Philippines has with China could double in a couple of years. Or China could punish the country, as the Communist Party-owned newspaper The Global Times suggested, for turning to the US for more military muscle.
Another Global Times editorial warned that "small countries" like the Philippines and Vietnam should stop challenging China's interests or "they will need to prepare for the sound of cannons".
Not surprisingly, this kind of talk irritates Gen Sabban. He says he has doubled patrols of nearby waters over the past 18 months, but has not increased armed presence. He would prefer a peaceful solution. Still, he says, China should think before getting any more aggressive in these waters.
"Remember the Vietnam war, where a smaller country defeated a superpower," he says. "It's about the determination of a people to defend themselves."
And it does not hurt that another superpower stands ready to come to their aid.
'Vital area'
Protecting an oil rig will be one of the exercises the Philippines performs with the US military this spring. A Philippines delegation visited Washington in January to talk about enhanced US military support in the South China Sea.
"This area is vital to the United States," Chief of US Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert said recently. "It's been an area vital to our navy and our focus for decades, because of the trade routes, the large economies."
Adm Greenert said the challenge was to keep trade routes open - and peaceful - while keeping belligerence to a minimum.
China's view is that the US should mind its own business.
"Any interference from outside forces or a multilateral discussion will only complicate matters, rather than resolving them," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin said in November.
China points out that the $30bn in trade the Philippines has with China could double in a couple of years. Or China could punish the country, as the Communist Party-owned newspaper The Global Times suggested, for turning to the US for more military muscle.
Another Global Times editorial warned that "small countries" like the Philippines and Vietnam should stop challenging China's interests or "they will need to prepare for the sound of cannons".
Not surprisingly, this kind of talk irritates Gen Sabban. He says he has doubled patrols of nearby waters over the past 18 months, but has not increased armed presence. He would prefer a peaceful solution. Still, he says, China should think before getting any more aggressive in these waters.
"Remember the Vietnam war, where a smaller country defeated a superpower," he says. "It's about the determination of a people to defend themselves."
And it does not hurt that another superpower stands ready to come to their aid.
