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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Obama beefs up Philippines with military pact gives US access to air, sea bases

Obama's Manila visit beefs up Philippines 

 US President Barack Obama is now in Manila, the last stop of his Asia tour, after his visit to Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. This is Obama's first visit to the Philippines in more than six years since he took office in January 2009. He hopes to reiterate and reinforce the US "pivot to Asia" strategy that has been struggling to gain footing.

Against the background of a drastically changing geopolitical landscape in the Asia-Pacific region with growing Chinese influence, the US is keen to rally its Asian allies to maintain and promote its status as an Asia-Pacific country.

The Philippines is among the most aggressive claimants of the South China Sea, and Washington keeps reassuring this state, which is a stronghold on the "first island chain" around China.

Apart from counterbalancing an increasingly assertive China by intensifying strategic cooperation with and pledging economic assistance to China's surrounding countries, Washington also attempts to remold its image in the mind of its Asian allies, in particular when its European allies are losing confidence in the world's greatest power because of the Ukraine crisis.

Now that London is behaving half-heartedly, Paris and Berlin have shown reluctance to impose harsher sanctions against Moscow over its integration of Crimea, Obama intends to exhibit his firm commitment to reassuring all allied nations by aiding the Philippines, a treaty ally that is both economically and militarily backward.

Defense and security issues are dominating Obama's journey in Manila and economic concerns are another area on his agenda.

Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador Philip Goldberg on Monday morning signed a 10-year deal, allowing a bigger US military presence in the Philippines and better access of US troops to the country's military bases, ports and airfields.

The Philippines was once home to two of the largest US naval and air force bases outside the continental US territory till the early 1990s. Now in light of China's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea, the White House is sparing no effort to beef up its military presence in one of the critical links around Beijing.

More than 100 left-wing activists demonstrated at the US embassy in Manila to oppose Obama's visit and the military accord on April 23, despite the expectations from the Philippine military, business sector and local media for more US military equipment including advanced ships and aircraft .But it should be noted that the small-scale protest is a routine affair and therefore Aquino's government is unlikely to pay special heed to it.

Also on the agenda for Obama's Manila visit is economic cooperation and financial assistance.

The New York Times commented that given the wide spectrum of security difficulties the US is facing in Asia, promoting trading collaboration might be the best way for Obama to build credibility in his "rebalancing toward Asia" policy.

There is no denying that economic interaction with its Asian partners will help increase the US capital export.

Nevertheless, for the Philippines enmeshed in long-term economic debilitation, the number of cooperation programs the White House will offer may be quite limited.

Manila is in no way comparable to Tokyo or Seoul, the most vital economic pillars among the US' Asian allies, a pragmatic Washington will not invest too much.

Obama's pledges of economic packages, if there are any, will be more a show than substantial assistance.

Consequently, the Philippines will get little practical interests except some psychological comfort from its US ally, since Obama also refrains from drawing another red line on possible military action against Beijing.

Washington has deliberately been scheming to attract Manila to its geopolitical game in the Southeast Asia in a bid to continue the territorial rows over the South China Sea and counterbalance China's rise.

Compiled by Global Times reporter Wang Xiaonan, based on an interview with Ji Qiufeng, professor of international relations at the School of History, Nanjing University.
 

Philippine pact gives US access to air, sea bases


Philippine pact gives US access to air, sea bases

US President Barack Obama chats with Philippine counterpart Benigno Aquino as he signs the guest book at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on Monday.[Photo / Agencies]


Obama backs Manila's decision to seek int'l arbitration of territorial dispute

Washington secured a key part of its pivot to the Asia-Pacific region with a decadelong defense pact with Manila on Monday, as observers said the militarization of the region is playing with fire and makes a diplomatic settlement much harder.

The US-Philippine Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement was signed on Monday at the Defense Ministry in Manila shortly before Obama's arrival on the last stop of his four-country Asian tour.

The pact gives US forces temporary access to selected bases and allows them to base fighter jets and ships in the Philippines, as "part of a rebalancing of US resources towards fast-growing Asia and the Pacific", Reuters said.

The US goal in Asia, Obama said on Monday, was not to contain or counter a rising China. However he "backed Manila's efforts" to submit territorial problems with China to adjudication by international arbitration, AFP said.

The rhetoric has been charged recently between Beijing and Manila as the Philippines tried to boost its claims over China's Huangyan Island and Ren'ai Reef in the South China Sea and sought greater involvement from Washington.

"Manila's efforts have dovetailed with Washington's intention to shift to the economically booming Asian region, partly as a counterweight to China's growing clout," Associated Press said.

Rommel Banlaoi, an analyst at Manila's Center for Intelligence and National Security, told Reuters that relations between the Philippines and China will deteriorate further as China "is averse to any Philippine government initiative to involve the US in its security agenda".

"We are strengthening our relationship with the US at the expense of our relationship with China," he said.

Jia Duqiang, a Southeast Asian studies expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the pact serves as a component of "the Obama administration's ongoing plans to militarize issues that are rumbling in the Asia-Pacific region", and this is "actually playing with fire".

"We have seen Obama press the need for defense cooperation with US allies in almost every stop of his Asian trip, which illustrates Washington's unchanged double approach in its dealings with China — dialogue plus coercion," Jia said.

Responding to the pact on Monday, Beijing called for "relevant countries" to build more bridges to facilitate trust, regional peace, stability and prosperity.

"The US has said on different occasions that Washington has no intention of coercive moves against China, and it is necessary to examine the follow-up remarks and actions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a news conference in Beijing on Monday.

The defense deal was signed and announced "when tensions between China and its neighbors have been rising" and it is "the biggest policy achievement" of Obama's trip to Asia, the Washington Post commented.

The Philippines was an American colony from 1898 to 1946, and their defense treaty, signed in 1951, is the oldest US treaty alliance in Asia. During the Cold War the US had a large military presence in the Philippines at Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Station.

But a greater US presence in the Philippines is a heated topic. Fiery debates in the Philippine Senate ultimately led to closing Subic Bay Naval Station, the last permanent US base in the country, in 1992.

Qu Xing, president of the China Institute of International Studies, warned that rising tension concerning the South China Sea has radicalized public sentiment in some countries, which makes rational discussion over the issue at the diplomatic table "much harder".

Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said a number of China-related remarks made by prominent US figures, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who visited China earlier this month, have sent a clear signal that "Washington is backing the Philippines".

"These remarks run counter to the official US position that it does not take a position over the South China Sea issue," Wu said.

Obama said at a news conference on Monday, "We welcome China's peaceful rise. We have a constructive relationship with China."

But Jia from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the Philippines, more so than Japan or Vietnam, has fully endorsed the US strategy of containing China.

"Beijing should never have high expectations of Washington taking a fair approach over the South China Sea issue," Jia said. "The tension in the South China Sea will probably worsen because Washington is determined more than ever to contain China in this regard," Jia said.

- By Zhang Yunbi China Daily

Containment unlikely in Asian geopolitics 

Is it for containing China? This is a question that will be haunting the whole of East Asia during US President Obama's ongoing trip to this area. Tokyo and Manila hope it is, but the facts will prove it is only their wishful thinking.

Obama's four-country visit should have been done last October. But it was delayed because of the debt ceiling crisis and government shutdown. When voices about the US declining are rising dramatically, the top priority of Obama's trip is to reassure its Asian allies to keep their faith in Washington.

Washington keeps declaring that it doesn't pick sides in terms of the Sino-Japanese and Sino-Philippine territorial disputes. But it explicitly shows favor for Tokyo and Manila when frictions in these areas take place.

Washington tries to kill two birds with one stone by supporting its allies while avoiding irritating China, a delicate way to maintain the balance between business profits and political influence.

Obama putting off the October trip has already sent a signal that Asian allies must make way for US domestic affairs.

While in order to revive its declining economy, the US depends much more on China than these allies. Washington cannot bear a strategic confrontation of containment and counter-containment with China.

China's Asia policy keeps holding the strategic initiative with restraint. Washington and its allies' arrangements to contain China will probably end up in vain. They have no chips to bargain with China. In fact, both the US and its allies are calculating how to benefit from China's growth.

China's rise has become the biggest variable in the Asia-Pacific strategic framework. China shows to the world that it is committed to utilizing its power in a peaceful and restrained manner, and the US has also basically recognized a stronger China.

These two new developments are shaping a new Asia-Pacific order during China's rise. There will be a new balance in this area, and no countries are able to break it.

Obama's rebalance toward Asia is a rearrangement of the US presence in this area to maximize its interests. But the US is not powerful or ambitious enough to contain China in this area, or even strangle China before it rises to be a global power.

It is just an illusion for some Asian countries to contain China. In fact, there are many controversies concerning China's rise within the US-led alliance.

Japan and the Philippines want a tough stand against China, but are also worried that Asia might become the victim of a Cold War-like confrontation between the US and China.

Containing China is a plausible option for several Asian countries, but it will be proven impossible in the real Asian geopolitical game.

Obama should know that his actions and remarks during this trip will keep making headlines, but he had better not stir up a situation that is even beyond his own control.

Global Times  2014-4-23 23:53:17

Related:  The US and Japan are playing with fire in Asia

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Sunday, April 27, 2014

MaGIC, Malaysian Global Innovation and Creative Centre sign MoUs with Stanford University and UP Global


MaGIC sign MoUs with Stanford U. and UP Global CYBERJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tonight witnessed the signing of memorandum of understandings between the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) and Stanford University and UP Global to foster and develop a vibrant entrepreneur eco-system in Malaysia.

Strongly backing the MaGIC concept, Najib said he believed in young people for their passion, energy and creativity.

"Hence opportunities and the ecosystem have got to be created for them to succeed.

"This is the just the beginning of a success story. We want to churn out young entrepreneurs who can command the world stage in the future," he said in his speech.

MaGIC, the one-stop centre which will provide all necessary facilities for entrepreneurs, aimed to transform Malaysia into a dynamic entrepreneurial nation by enabling domestic and international entrepreneurs to successfully start and grow their businesses.

Two of Stanford University's world-class schools, the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Stanford School of Engineering, will collaborate with MaGIC.

Meanwhile, the partnership with UP Global is designed not only to increase the level of entrepreneurial activity and new company creation in Malaysia but also to develop Malaysia as a global startup hub and a center of activity for South East Asia.

Other collaborations that would complement MaGIC's efforts would be between the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation and the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences.

The collaboration would serve as a launching pad for the Bio-Entrepreneurship Programme which aimed to create an environment to enhance the commercialisation of bio-based products and services by local biotechnology researchers and entrepreneurs.

In addition, Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd (MAVCAP) also marked the kick-off of its third outsourced partner programme (OSPR) with its first OSP3 partner, Elixir Capital Management, a Silicon Valley-based fund manager to launch the ECM Strait Fund.

The Strait Fund would target growth equity investment opportunities in order to help scale up small to medium enterprises in the Asean region.

MAVCAP also signed a limited partnership agreement with a commitment of US$5 million from MAVCAP with 500 Durian LP, a local fund which aimed to invest in startups in the Southeast Asian region.

Durian LP would be managed by a California-based seed accelerator, 500 Startups.

These collaborations would further build entrepreneurship development programmes and accelerate the growth of an entrepreneurial nation while complementing MaGIC's initiatives

After the signing ceremony, Najib toured the MaGIC centre, located in Cyberjaya, a city poised to become the global technology hub.

US President Barack Obama is expected to launch MaGIC on Sunday in conjunction with his three-day visit to Malaysia beginning tomorrow.

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Obama to lend MaGIC touch 

Big role to play: The MaGIC in Cyberjaya will get some sound advice from Obama.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Global Innovation and Creative Centre (MaGIC) in Cyberjaya, which is tasked with transforming Malaysia into a dynamic entrepreneurial nation, will get some sound advice – from President Barack Obama.

The United States leader will stop by in Cyberjaya on Sunday to be briefed and also provide a pep talk.

Special Envoy to the US Datuk Seri Jamaluddin Jarjis said it was a top priority to bring the president to the centre “to provide the inspiration.”

“The Government’s aim is to make Malaysia a high-income nation and to create a knowledge-based economy. MaGIC has a big role to play.

“The United State is all about innovation and there can be no better opportunity than having the president visit the centre,’’ he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who has allocated RM50mil to MaGIC, is scheduled to accompany Obama to the centre after their talks in Putrajaya.

The president will witness the signing of an MoU between MaGIC and the Stanford Centre for Professional Development (SCPD) from The Leland Stanford Junior University, and with UP Global, a non-profit organisation set up to provide support for entrepreneurs.

The collaboration with SCPD will enable local entrepreneurs to enrol in courses and programmes while they continued with their businesses.

With a long history of creating talent for renowned multinational such as General Electric and Hewlett-Packard, SCPD was founded by Frederick Terman, better known as the “Father of Silicon Valley” who was the university’s Dean of the School of Engineering.

It is learnt that under the arrangement, SCPD faculty members would be brought to the centre to help in the transfer of knowledge with local entrepreneurs sent there to learn and meet with venture capitalists.

The second MoU with UP Global is a result of the 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) held in Kuala Lumpur last year with the theme “Empowering and Connecting Entrepreneurs” organised by the Finance Ministry.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who attended the GES event here, said the US would enter into a partnership to train 500,000 entrepreneurs from Malaysia and around the world over the next few years in 1,000 cities, including Kuala Lumpur.

Contributed by Paul Gabriel and Lim Wing Hooi

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Friday, April 25, 2014

Obama's loss of balance, his Diaoyu Islands vow 'may backfire'


US president barack obama may have congratulated himself in private for apparently pulling off a difficult balancing act, but if so, he is being a little too hasty.

He offered his anxious Japanese host the reassurance Tokyo was so desperately begging for: The confirmation that the territory it stole is covered by the US-Japan security treaty.

Then, so as not to infuriate the attentive owner next door, he stated that this "is not a new position", nor one of his making, as the US-Japan treaty preceded his birth, and he reconfirmed that Washington takes no sides in the sovereignty dispute over the islands.

However, swaying to and fro on the tightrope he was walking, Obama's balancing act was lopsided at best, because it was conspicuously biased in favor of the troublemaking Japanese prime minister.

By deliberately ignoring the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, and the terms of surrender Japan agreed to at the end of World War II, Obama has betrayed the postwar international order and endorsed Japan's de facto control over the Diaoyu Islands, which should have been returned to China under the terms of these legally binding agreements.

Extending the US-Japan security treaty to those islands is both morally and legally wrong.

Obama should not expect Chinese connivance in his turning a blind eye to Japan's thievery and its claims of innocence.

It was the Japanese government that unilaterally changed the status quo. The dispute over the Diaoyu Islands had cooled down until Japan poured kerosene on it and set a match to it by "nationalizing" the main islands.

Obama's praise of "Japan's long-standing commitment to international peace and security" is grating on the ear - and not just to China - because he once again chose to ignore the elephant in the room, saying nothing about Japan's denial of its militarist past and rightist present. By tacitly endorsing Japan's actions, he is giving Shinzo Abe carte blanche to continue destabilizing the region.

That Obama has cast aside the strategic ambiguity others have tried hard to preserve may be good in one sense - it helps to relieve some of the wishful thinking that Washington doesn't condone the antics of Japan's right-wingers.

But since he has voluntarily bound his country to Abe's war chariot, instead of breathing a sigh of relief that he has completed his balancing act, he might want to start considering how he is going to untie the knots and tame the adventurous Japan under Abe, or prepare to be dragged into an unwanted conflict.


Diaoyu Islands vow 'may backfire'

The PLA is fully capable of safeguarding China's Diaoyu Islands, says spokesman

US President Barack Obama's promise of military cover for Japan's claim on the Diaoyu Islands faces the potential of backfiring, observers said.

Obama stated in a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday that the US-Japan mutual security treaty covers China's Diaoyu Islands.

"We do not believe that they should be subject to change unilaterally, and what is a consistent part of the alliance is that the treaty covers all territories administered by Japan."

The forthright remarks from Obama are widely interpreted as a display of Washington's strong commitment to its Asian allies designed to dispel suspicion of weakening US clout in the region.

Obama is on a four-nation tour that was postponed seven months ago because of the US government shutdown. He faced flak at the time for postponing the trip, both in the US and overseas, amid criticism that the US was preoccupied with domestic affairs at the expense of its international commitments.

Responding to Obama's comments, Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said that the Chinese army will continue military patrols in "relevant waters" in the East China Sea.

The Chinese military is "fully capable of safeguarding the Diaoyu Islands, and it is unnecessary for other nations to go to extreme lengths to provide a so-called security guarantee," Yang said, adding that China will firmly safeguard territorial sovereignty in the face of provocation from Japan.

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said Obama's remarks may lead to unforeseen problems because the military commitment — directly naming specific islands — could "sabotage US strategic initiatives in the region" and undermine its strategic flexibility.

"As a result, Tokyo is keeping Washington in check in this regard, and, honestly, the ruling Japanese cabinet is very unpredictable," Ruan said.

Ruan noted that Obama's remarks about the islands "also harm the credibility of the US", because instead of taking an honest broker's viewpoint the US is firmly backing one side and this has the potential to cause problems.

With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe beside him, Obama told reporters that he had not drawn any new "red line" over the islands, and he emphasized the need to resolve maritime disputes peacefully.

"The treaty between the US and Japan preceded my birth, so, obviously, this isn't a red line that I'm drawing," Obama said. Li Haidong, a researcher of US studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said Obama's visit to Japan aimed to boost Japan's status as a "pillar" of Asia-Pacific security and as a key player in containing China.

But, Li said, the two allies have different agendas.

"The US seeks stability in the big picture of its relationship with China, yet Japan is not afraid of fanning the flames of a conflict with China," Li said.

The US-Japan defense treaty requires Washington to come to Japan's defense if it is attacked.

Experts said Washington believes that backing Tokyo will have long-term benefits.

Lyu Yaodong, an expert on Japanese diplomacy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Obama is "determined to see tangible progress in his rebalancing strategy" during his Asian trip, and "to achieve this goal, satisfying demands from Japan regarding the islands is necessary".

Abe told reporters on Thursday that "the Japan-US alliance is more robust than ever before."

"The US pivot cannot succeed without strong support from important allies such as Japan," Lyu said.

Ruan noted a shift in the US-Japan military relationship, and one example is that the US is "outsourcing" more defense duties to Japan.

"Washington believes that its promise on the islands is a feasible way to strengthen its influence over Japan, and accordingly Washington wants Japan's self-defense forces to play a greater role, which is very dangerous," Ruan said.

Yang, the Defense Ministry spokesman, also confirmed what Chinese Navy Commander Wu Shengli said on Wednesday about a worst-case scenario.

Wu told reporters on the sidelines of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium that the possibility of a military conflict remains between China and Japan, and the priority is to "prevent the outbreak of a conflict".

Yang also said the PLA will continue military patrols in waters near a tropical Japanese island close to Taiwan, days after Tokyo announced it would break ground on a new radar base in the area.

The radar station on Yonaguni Island, just 150 km from the Diaoyu Islands, marks Japan's first military expansion at the western end of its island chain in more than 40 years.

"We are paying close attention to Japan's military trends," he said.

"China's military will continue to carry out battle readiness patrols, military drills and other activities in the area," Yang said.

- By Zhang Yunbi, China Daily

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