Referring to territorial disputes between China and other nations in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and the East China Sea, Locklear reiterated the United States does not take sides and wants to see issues resolved peacefully.
“We call on all the parties there, including the Chinese, to ensure that, as they approach these problems, they do so in a way that avoids conflict, that avoids miscalculation, that uses the vehicles available today through diplomacy and through those legal forums that allow them to get to reasonable solutions on these without resorting to coercion or conflict,” Locklear said at a Pentagon news briefing on Thursday.
The US Pacific Command is stressing cooperation and collaboration, not confrontation, in the region and America’s pivot to Asia underscores it is and will remain a Pacific power, he said.
A report on the briefing by Jim Garamone of the American Forces Press Service was posted on the Defense Department website.
Referring to China’s efforts to modernize its military, Locklear said it’s not so much having such a military capability but what China does with it that concerns him.
He said the latest indicator of China’s efforts to modernize its military was the recent landing of a naval variant of the J-15 jet on Beijing’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.
“If I were China and I was in the economic position that China is in and I was in a position where I have to look after my global security interests, I would consider building an aircraft carrier, and I might consider building several aircraft carriers,” Locklear said.
Aircraft carriers have a role in maintaining the peace.
“If the issue is that [the Chinese] are not part of that global security environment, then I think we have to be concerned about [Chinese aircraft carriers],” he said.
The spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday that China is ready to work with the Philippines to promote the sound and stable development of bilateral ties.
The Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency reported that spokesman Hong Lei said China is ready to have stable ties with the Philippines during a regular press briefing while answering questions regarding new Philippine Ambassador to China Erlinda Basilio.
President Aquino appointed Basilio, replacing former ambassador Sonia Brady who suffered a stroke in Beijing last August.
“We have noticed relevant reports and will handle the ambassador’s appointment in accordance with international practices and relevant procedures,” Hong said.
The Chinese government, Hong said, attaches great importance to its relations with the Philippines.
The Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed the nomination of Basilio as the country’s next top diplomat to China, counting on the seasoned senior diplomat to play a major role in achieving the Philippines’ defined objectives.
The Chinese embassy in Manila said China attaches importance to its relations with the Philippines and hopes that the appointment of the new ambassador may facilitate communication between the two sides.
Meanwhile, officials of the northernmost province of Batanes have appealed to the government to stop the regular intrusion of foreign ships entering into local territorial waters.
Batanes Gov. Vicente Gato said that the provincial government could not cope with the rampant poaching of foreign fishing vessels as well as the occasional incursions of alien ships into the waters around the island province.
“This rampant poaching of fisheries resources by foreigners is the main problem of our administration as well as other coastal towns in Cagayan Valley, and something must be done to remedy this situation,” Gato said.
Batanes, located at the merging waters of the West Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean, is nearer to Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City than to mainland Luzon.
There were reports that most of the fishermen arrested in Batanes for illegal fishing were Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese.
Gato called for the assistance of the various government agencies in its fight against the rampant poaching by foreign fishing vessels.
Jovita Ayson, Cagayan Valley director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, said that despite the lack of proper equipment, their agency is doing its best to arrest foreign poachers.
Ayson said that in the first six decades from 1949 to 2003, authorities were only able to apprehend some 328 foreign nationals for illegal fishing and poaching.
She said that an estimated P75-million to P150-million worth of fish have been smuggled out of the country by foreign poachers, while the apprehended poachers paid only $280,000 or a measly P13 million in administrative fines.-The Philippine Star (December 08, 2012 12:00AM)
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