The US said it would seek to help defuse tensions in the strategic and resource-rich South China Sea as it was set to hold talks with China in Hawaii yesterday.
Tensions in the South China Sea have escalated in recent weeks, with the Philippines and Vietnam alarmed at what they say are increasingly aggressive actions by Beijing in the disputed waters.
“The United States has no intention to fan the flames in the South China Sea and we have a very strong interest in the maintenance of peace and stability,” Assistant US Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters on Friday.
He said he expected the South China Sea disputes to be raised at the US-China meeting in Honolulu, which is part of the two countries’ strategic and economic dialogue. He was to attend the talks.
“We’ve been very clear that the United States does not take a position on sovereignty issues, but we also have strong principles that are long-standing in the maintenance of freedom of navigation, and free and unimpeded legal commerce and the maintenance of peace and stability” said Campbell, the top US diplomat for East Asia.
“Those principles are long-standing and will continue, and we underscore them in all of our interactions in the Asia-Pacific region,” he added. “It is not our desire to see, as I said, these flames fanned. We want recent tensions to subside and cooler heads to prevail.”
Meanwhile, Washington has vowed to boost the Philippines’ intelligence capabilities in the South China Sea, Manila said yesterday.
This comes after the US said on Thursday it was ready to provide hardware to modernize the military of its close, but impoverished ally.
US National Director for Intelligence (NDI) James Clapper made the commitment in a meeting with Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario in Washington.
Del Rosario is in the US seeking help for the Philippines’ poorly equipped military.
“The US official pledged to enhance the NDI’s intelligence sharing with the Philippines to heighten the latter’s maritime situational awareness and surveillance in the West Philippine Sea,” a Philippine Foreign Department statement said.
Clapper was quoted as saying that “we’ll do whatever we can to help” as he expressed concern about recent events in the South China Sea.
The “West Philippine Sea” is the term that the Philippine government now uses for the South China Sea to further stress its claim over that area.
Del Rosario was quoted as saying he was “exploring an option” which would allow the Philippines to acquire newer military equipment at a lower cost.
However, he did not say what this option was.
The Philippines had sought to modernize its military following a series of incidents with China in the South China Sea, particularly in the Spratly Islands (南沙群島), a chain of islets believed to sit on vast mineral resources.
However, a spokeswoman for Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said the renewed ties between the US and the Philippines should not agitate China.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Tawain, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim all or part of the South China Sea which includes the Spratlys.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
South Korea yesterday said that it was removing loudspeakers used to blare K-pop and news reports to North Korea, as the new administration in Seoul tries to ease tensions with its bellicose neighbor. The nations, still technically at war, had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. It said in June that Pyongyang stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean residents, a day after South Korea’s loudspeakers fell silent. “Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,”
RSS