Americans 'meddling' in Pacific

FORT MAGSAYSAY, Philippines -- The Yanks are coming! The Yanks are coming!

That alarm cry has been sounded by China since U.S. President Barack Obama announced in December the United States' military policy was pivoting away from the Old World to Asia.

A new strategic guidance issued by the Pentagon in January that places a strong emphasis on the western Pacific could be heard over the weekend in the pop-pop of assault weapons and the acrid smell of gunpowder as soldiers from the U.S. army's 100th Infantry Battalion conducted a co-ordinated counter-attack during a live-fire exercise on a hilly Filipino army range about 200 kilometres north of Manila.

The 4,500 soldiers, marines, air force personnel and sailors taking part with 2,300 Filipino troops in the Balikatan 2012 exercise steered well clear of the political implications of the change in U.S. policy, which has been widely interpreted in Washington and Beijing as the beginning of an American attempt to check potential Chinese military ambitions in the region. Nevertheless, to a man and woman, the troops said they expected to be spending a lot more of their time in Asia than they have in recent years.

"As a result of what the president announced, the focus will start shifting to the Pacific," said Command Sgt.-Maj. Curtis Arnold, the top U.S. army non-commissioned officer with the Hawaii-based 196th Infantry Brigade and a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. "As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq end, I think that you will see more active duty units participating out here."

"Heightened co-operation" is the way U.S. ambassador Harry Thomas put it to a gathering of senior Filipino and U.S. officers during the opening ceremony in Manila for the current exercise.

Half a dozen Chinese journalists were accredited to cover Balikatan -- the biggest war games held here since the annual exercises started 28 years ago.

In a delicious irony, the Chinese journalists shared a four-hour minibus trip from Manila to Fort Magsaysay with several U.S. troops as well as with other journalists. The Chinese spent most of the journey quietly reading English-language news reports about Balikatan and the growing diplomatic row between China and the Philippines over small islands and rocks in the oil, gas and fish-rich South China Sea.

What has particularly irked Beijing has been the size and breadth of this year's Balikatan, which is taking place on two major Philippine islands that face China as well as at sea in waters claimed by the Communist government. Helping to stoke the fires, the Philippine media have characterized this year's Balikatan as an "unprecedented exercise." It began near the Philippine island of Palawan with naval forces and Marines practising seizing offshore oil rigs.

"Anyone with clear eyes saw long ago that behind these drills is reflected a mentality that will lead the South China Sea issue down a fork in the road towards military confrontation and resolution through armed force," China's Liberation Army Daily said in a commentary Saturday, according to a Taiwanese newspaper.

"Through this kind of meddling and intervention, the United States will stir up the entire South China Sea situation towards increasing chaos. This will inevitably have a massive impact on regional peace and stability."

The U.S. and Filipino positions are in lockstep. The exercises have long been a spring ritual that include many humanitarian aspects. Furthermore, they draw on Filipino-American ties that go back more than 100 years.

Although it is not acknowledged officially because foreign bases on Philippine soil were banned when the U.S. navy left Subic and the U.S. air force left Clark Airfield 20 years ago, the U.S. has had a de facto base in the southern Philippines for several years. Special Forces advisers work there alongside Philippine troops fighting Islamist insurgents.

Only last week, the U.S. navy signed a deal that will allow its warships to regularly be repaired at its old base at Subic Bay. There is also rampant speculation here that Philippine President Benigno Aquino is going to offer the U.S. some kind of permanent military facilities on Palawan when he meets with Obama in Washington on April 30.

With the challenge of an emergent China looming over the horizon, the Yanks are gradually returning to the Philippines. This development is being closely watched not only in Beijing but by other Pacific nations, including Canada.

Matthew Fisher is a

Postmedia News columnist.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 24, 2012 A7