Pentagon announces plans to 'sharpen' military capacity in Asia-Pacific
- by Leah Brady
- in Worldwide
- — Oct 1, 2016
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter has said Washington's relationship with the Philippines will remain "ironclad", even though the tough-talking President Rodrigo Duterte has distanced his country from the US by raising doubts over continuing its military alliance.
Carter called the Asia-Pacific region "the most consequential region for America's future", stressing that the US must continue to work with its allies to improve maritime security in the East and South China Seas.
Mr Carter was set to meet his Philippine counterpart Delfin Lorenzana in Hawaii yesterday, where the Pentagon chief is hosting an "informal" meeting for Asean defence ministers. And just this week, Duterte said joint military exercises of Filipino and American troops scheduled for next week will be the last such drills, although his foreign secretary quickly said the decision was not final.
Despite each of the recent maneuvers by Duterte to distance the Philippines from its USA ties, Carter and the Pentagon have continued to emphasize the agreement and that US involvement will continue.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter testifies before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on National Security Challenges and Ongoing Military Operations on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, September 22, 2016.
The defense official said probably about 1,000 or fewer Southeast Asians are in Syria and Iraq, and "hundreds" have already returned to their home countries. The agreement, known as the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), is in its early planning stages, a senior defense official said Thursday.
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Carter has described Pentagon efforts to execute a "pivot" to Asia by shifting, or rebalancing, USA forces and attention toward the Asia-Pacific region after a decade and a half of Mideast-focused strategies and operations.
The underpinnings of that alliance include a mutual defense treaty, which has been in effect for 65 years.
"The United States still has serious concerns with some of China's recent actions on the seas, in cyberspace, and elsewhere". U.S. officials said this week that they had not seen formal requests from the Philippines to stop the joint patrols. The Philippines agreement, called the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, was considered an important part of the US rebalance, particularly given the country's proximity to the Spratly Islands, where China has claimed sovereignty.
Kirby confirmed that USA secretary of state John Kery had one conversation with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj in which "he condemned terrorism in all its forms and he cautioned against any escalation in tensions", while reiterating his "strong condemnation of the September 18th Uri attack".
Carter is due to host defence ministers from southeast Asian countries in Hawaii this week, including the Philippines.
