US Marine General confirms Spratly by defense treaty, US will intervene

[Korean]

Hey that's interesting. You have any link on the bold part, I would like to know.

A Principled Stance in Relations with China - Diplomacy | Politics - Japan Echo Web

TAHARA On that diplomatic front, in talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on September 23, you managed to get an American statement that the Senkaku Islands fall within the scope of the Japan-US Security Treaty. It was a big step for the United States to go that far on this topic.

MAEHARA Yes, it was. This time they’ve clearly stated that the Senkakus are under Japanese jurisdiction and are part of the territory covered by the security treaty. The Japanese government has been very heartened by this stance.

Maehara Seiji in this paragraph is the foreign minister of Japan at that time.

US-Japan alliance the big winner from the Senkaku Islands dispute | East Asia Forum

First, the United States has offered reassurance to Japan that the Senkaku Islands fall within the scope of the Japan-US Security Treaty, which obligates the United States to defend Japan. The Japanese press reported an explicit commitment from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in talks with Foreign Minister Maehara Seiji in New York in September.

The US defense treaty with Philippine is roughly the same, that the US will defend what's currently under Filipino administration, not what's claimed. Thus China triggers an automatic US military response if it makes a play for currently Filipino held territories in the South China Sea.

 

[Fanling Monk]

A Principled Stance in Relations with China - Diplomacy | Politics - Japan Echo Web


Maehara Seiji in this paragraph is the foreign minister of Japan at that time.

US-Japan alliance the big winner from the Senkaku Islands dispute | East Asia Forum



The US defense treaty with Philippine is roughly the same, that the US will defend what's currently under Filipino administration, not what's claimed. Thus China triggers an automatic US military response if it makes a play for currently Filipino held territories in the South China Sea.

I always wary of sources like that and beside it doesn't mention how Clinton say it. Thanks anyway.

 

[gambit]

How else you expect a military man would say when a question is presented to him concerning his domain.


The United States has also been quiet on whether it would honor the Mutual Defense Treaty it signed with its Philippine ally should a shooting war break out with China. The US Congressional Research Service said the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty is open to interpretation, with the US obliged to respond only if a foreign military attacks Philippine territory or military forces. By this definition, the obligation for the US to protect Philippine claims to the Spratlys or Scarborough Shoal is uncertain.

That is why far wiser heads than yours and your Chinese friends are cautious -- precisely because it can be open for interpretation. If it goes in favor for China, no big deal for China. But if it goes negative for China, not only does it go negative, it can also go negative in scope in that not only can it be for defense it can go offense as well. The US may interpret that area of Asia to be of vital national interest that there may be a long term if not outright permanent garrison of USN presence.

 

[Fanling Monk]

That is why far wiser heads than yours and your Chinese friends are cautious -- precisely because it can be open for interpretation. If it goes in favor for China, no big deal for China. But if it goes negative for China, not only does it go negative, it can also go negative in scope in that not only can it be for defense it can go offense as well. The US may interpret that area of Asia to be of vital national interest that there may be a long term if not outright permanent garrison of USN presence.

LOL even you can make sense occasionally.

 

[Rig Vedic]

Frankly this Spratly business is strategic overreach by China. Why make such egregious claims so far from the mainland?

China should reach a reasonable compromise with its neighbours.

 

[kalu_miah]

If China ever goes down (god forbid), the US Navy would take over the islands. Guam and those little islands are not sufficient to exert their naval influence in the Asia-Pacific region. Philippines is just a little proxy (i.e. wh0re) to keep China at bay till their dream materializes.

Philippine is a friendly brother nation of Bangladesh, we would never use the above word for Philippines. Philippines struggled throughout its history against Western colonial powers and fought independence wars against the US.

Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines, Dhaka

President Ahmed stated that the excellent bilateral relations existing between the Philippines and Bangladesh would be further strengthened in view of Bangladesh’s “Look East” Policy since Bangladesh now gives great importance to its relations with countries in Southeast Asia such as the Philippines.

 

[Alchemy]

our panda friends won't like this.

Get set for some Kung fu action ... i mean some more "warnings"

 

[gambit]

Frankly this Spratly business is strategic overreach by China. Why make such egregious claims so far from the mainland?

China should reach a reasonable compromise with its neighbours.

My opinion is that this is more a test -- a risky one -- on how far China believe China can go in bullying Asia. It WILL backfire. The degree of that is unknown but there are still a lot of WW II survivors in Asia and they do not want to see another Asian power rising. Since they cannot contain China's belligerent rise, they will unite to present a challenge.

 

[p3avi8tor69]

I think its debatable whether the US will step in if there is a shooting war between the Philippines and China. It would be extremely foolish for the Philippines to even consider such a move. The US is pretty tight lip about this but and at the same time it seems to be moving to strengthen US presence in the region. China seems to be probing the Unites States' response which probably explains why it is very careful in responding to perceived Philippine chest thumping.

 

[T-Rex]

This is what happens when wealth falls in wrong hand!!!

The wealth in india is definitely in the wrong hands!

 

[Developereo]

That is why far wiser heads than yours and your Chinese friends are cautious -- precisely because it can be open for interpretation. If it goes in favor for China, no big deal for China. But if it goes negative for China, not only does it go negative, it can also go negative in scope in that not only can it be for defense it can go offense as well. The US may interpret that area of Asia to be of vital national interest that there may be a long term if not outright permanent garrison of USN presence.

Unless the US is actively looking to get down and dirty, it would probably try and de-escalate the situation in these borderline cases.

Frankly this Spratly business is strategic overreach by China. Why make such egregious claims so far from the mainland?

China should reach a reasonable compromise with its neighbours.

Not to go off-topic, but wouldn't the same logic apply for Andaman Islands (1500 miles from India, but < 200 miles from Burma)?

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

Not to go off-topic, but wouldn't the same logic apply for Andaman Islands (1500 miles from India, but < 200 miles from Burma)?

Similar logic was brought by Indonesia in the 1970s, however in contrast with Spartly , Andaman has inhabitants.

 

[vsdoc]

The degree of that is unknown but there are still a lot of WW II survivors in Asia and they do not want to see another Asian power rising.

Why not? So they can have another western country nuke their cities out of hand? Or napalm them?

Asian powers are rising. And it is not Asia that is worried.

 

[gambit]

Unless the US is actively looking to get down and dirty, it would probably try and de-escalate the situation in these borderline cases.

Of course we would. All treaties are open to interpretations to some degrees. But the point here is that the treaty between US and the PI should not be interpreted to favor one's own personal biases.

Why not? So they can have another western country nuke their cities out of hand? Or napalm them?

Asian powers are rising. And it is not Asia that is worried.

Asia would rather see parity rather than the lopsidedness that was prior to WW II among them. So how was India under Imperial Japan? Like it?

 

[kawaraj]

I doubt the US would do anything about any conflict between China and its neighbors.

they simply dare not. check out what happened in Georgia back in 2008.