Philippines: US to Protect Our Claims in S. China Sea
Speaking at a press conference today, Philippines Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said that the US was obliged to provide full military protection to all of the Philippines’ territorial claims in the South China Sea. - Gazmin said that both Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had recently pledged that the US would honor the 1951 military pact. The treaty obliges both sides to fight wars to protect whatever either of them considers a part of their “territorial integrity,” which would include disputed islands in the South China Sea. A number of unpopulated islands in the South China Sea are disputed, mutually claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and/or Indonesia. In general, the US has been supporting the claims of the last three, while accusing China of provocation with their own claims.
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