MANILA, Philippines - US President Barack Obama on Wednesday demanded China end artificial island building in the hotly contested South China Sea, upping the pressure on Beijing at a regional leaders’ summit.

The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) gathering is meant to forge unity on trade among 21 Pacific rim economies encompassing three billion people.

But the territorial row over the strategically vital South China Sea, as well as terrorism concerns following last week’s deadly Paris rampage, have dominated the build-up to this year’s meeting in the Philippines.

China has repeatedly insisted its disputes with its Asian neighbors over the sea, home to some of the world’s most important shipping routes, should not be on the APEC agenda.

But just hours before the two-day summit started, Obama voiced concerns over giant land reclamation works by China that have created new islands close to the Philippines.

“We discussed the impact of China’s land reclamation and construction activities on regional stability,” Obama told reporters after meeting Philippine President Benigno Aquino III for more than 30 minutes at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Pasay City.

“We agree on the need for bold steps to lower tensions, including pledging to halt further reclamation, new construction, and militarization of disputed areas in the South China Sea.”

On Tuesday, Obama also announced more than $250 million in maritime aid to Washington’s Southeast Asian allies — including a warship for the Philippines.

’Rock solid’

Obama assured Aquino Wednesday that the US’ commitment to enhancing the security and defense capabilities of the Philippines remains “rock solid”.

In turn, President Benigno Aquino III thanked Obama for America’s support in upholding the rule of law in the West Philippine Sea territorial dispute and for recognizing that the Philippines’ “initiation of arbitral proceedings is an open, friendly, durable and rules-based dispute settlement mechanism.”

Obama replied that the US alliance with the Philippines was a strong one and would continue to be enhanced through joint exercises and by working with multilateral organizations.

He added that the US was a strong advocate of freedom of navigation and freedom of aviation — principles it used to justify its deployment of a naval destroyer recently in areas where China had built artificial reefs and islands.

Aquino was also grateful for US foreign military financing assistance and for its support of the construction of the National Coast Watch Center.

The Official Gazette describes the NCWC “is an inter-agency maritime surveillance and coordinated response facility.” Its main tasks include conducting maritime surveillance operations; identifying security threats; planning inter-agency response to threats; and detecting, responding to, and recovering from threats.

Aquino also welcomed the proposed Southeast Asia Maritime Security Initiative.

According to the US Office of the Press Secretary, their country is “increasing the maritime security capacity of (its) allies and partners, to respond to threats in waters off their coasts, and to provide maritime security more broadly across the region.”

The Philippines remains “the largest recipient of maritime security assistance, and will receive a record $79 million in bilateral assistance of the FY 2015 funds allocated for developing Southeast Asian maritime capabilities,” it said.

The funds would be used for “building the training and logistical base for expanding the Philippine Navy, Coast Guard, and Air Forces’ ability to conduct operations within waters off the Philippines’ coasts.”

The US Office of the Press Secretary added that the country was “assisting with naval maintenance capacity building as well as providing interdiction vessels, naval fleet upgrades, communications equipment, and aircraft procurement.”

Arbitration

Aquino said he and Obama did not discuss getting other claimants to West Philippine Sea territories to join the Philippines’ case against China, “but we have been discussing with some of the other claimants who have been asking us our experience and the studies we have done leading us to the arbitration mode.”

Nevertheless, he said the other claimants “are watching us closely in this arbitration and are very close to a decision whether or not to join us in arbitration.”

On the other hand, Obama said while the US is not a claimant, “we fully support a process in which through international law and international norms these issues are resolved. And we look forward to working with all parties to move disputes through these channels.”

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters approaching the coasts of its Asian neighbors.

APEC members the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have rival claims to parts of the sea, which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas resources.

China reacted angrily on Wednesday to Obama’s efforts to bolster US allies in the dispute, as it insisted its construction work in the contested areas was “lawful, justified and reasonable”.

“If there is something that should stop, it is the United States should stop playing up the South China Sea issue, stop heightening tensions in the South China Sea,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in Beijing.

In a speech at a business forum in Manila ahead of the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping did not directly mention the territorial disputes.

But he did call on Pacific nations to “resolve our differences through dialogue and consultation”.

“We must focus on development and spare no effort to foster an environment of peace conducive to development and never allow anything to disrupt the development process,” he said.

Obama’s speech to the business forum focused mostly on the need for the world to tackle global warming, insisting fighting climate change would not hurt the economy.

“We have to break out of the mindset that when we are doing something about climate change, we slow growth,” Obama said.

Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement

Obama and Aquino also discussed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement which allows greater American military presence in the country and the use of local military facilities.

Obama expressed confidence the Philippine Supreme Court would uphold the EDCA.

“Obviously, the Philippines has to go through its process in the Supreme Court review. But we are confident that it is going to get done and we are going to be able to implement effectively the provisions and the ideas that have come forward during the course of these discussions,” he said.

“The broader point is that, as a treaty ally, we have a rock solid commitment to the defense of the Philippines,” he added. “And part of our goal is to continue to help our treaty partners build up capacity, to make sure that the architecture of both defense work, but also humanitarian work, and other important activities in the region are coordinated more effectively, and we think that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement is going to help us do that.”

Aquino, on the other hand, said as one of America’s oldest allies in the region, the Philippines has a role to play in the US’ pivot to Asia, which is why he said the government welcomed the EDCA “with very open arms,” which would give the country “access to the most modern technology that will bring us into higher capabilities.”

He also defended the American use of local bases granted by the EDCA, saying it would give the US “more stability in its ability to project its own power within the region in an effort to help in the stability and the orderliness and the diffusion of the tension with the region.”

US-China trade tensions

While in Manila, Obama is also trying to promote a giant free trade pact signed last month that groups 12 Pacific nations but excludes China.

Obama met with the leaders of the other Trade-Pacific Partnership nations on the sidelines of APEC on Wednesday.

But in his speech, Xi urged Asian economies to sign up to its own free trade agreement, warning rival pacts risked hurting the regional economies.

“With various new regional free trade arrangements cropping up there have been worries about the potential of fragmentation,” Xi said.

“We therefore need to accelerate the realization of FTAAP and take regional economic integration forward.”

The FTAAP is the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, which China launched as APEC host last year.

Still, at an evening reception for the leaders, Obama and Xi held an apparently relaxed discussion, with both of them smiling and standing close to each other.

Obama’s trip to Asia is the ninth of his presidency so far, and he had hoped it would showcase US commitment to the region and not just on the Middle East or Europe.

But once again his pivot has been blunted by events elsewhere, with Paris mourning the loss of at least 129 people in a rampage claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.

A draft of the APEC declaration due to be released on Thursday and seen by AFP condemned the Paris attacks, describing them as “atrocities that demand a united voice from the global community”.

Philippine authorities, which had already deployed more than 20,000 security forces for the summit, said security had been ratcheted up even higher because of the Paris attacks.

About 100 protesters opposed to APEC’s free-trade agenda clashed with helmeted police carrying riot shields just outside the summit venue on Wednesday.

Andrew Beatty, Agence France-Presse, Tricia Aquino, InterAksyon.com, Roices Naguit, News5

* “Obama ups pressure on China at Asia-Pacific summit”. InterAksyon.com. The online news portal of TV5. November 18, 2015 10:03 PM:
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/120389/apec2015--obama-ups-pressure-on-china-at-asia-pacific-summit

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Terror hijacks economy in #APEC2015

MANILA - The jihadist terror attacks, particularly the recent ones against Russia, France, and Lebanon, took centerstage at the 2015 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (#APEC2015) when the APEC Economic Leaders’ Declaration went beyond the ministers’ recommendations and condemned all forms of terror attacks.

Normally, the leaders’ declaration picks from the ministers’ joint statement, which in turn is based on the joint statement of senior officials; the APEC meetings are year-round, starting with a turnover from the previous host, then to consultations with various stakeholders, until finally culminating with the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and their declaration.

But the terror attacks have weighed heavily on APEC, causing increased security measures for the international event. As an indication of its prominent place in the mindset of the APEC Leaders, terrorism was mentioned in the second paragraph of the first page of the declaration.

No mention was made of the South China Sea territorial dispute, which the ministers have also avoided, even as it was pointed out that more than half of the world’s annual merchant fleet tonnage and a third of all maritime traffic worldwide pass through it.

“We stress the urgent need for increased international cooperation and solidarity in the fight against terrorism,” said the statement, which also noted ongoing APEC actions against terrorist financing and advance passenger risk analysis.

Specifically, the leaders called for the full implementation of the APEC Consolidated Counter-Terrorism and Secure Trade Strategy, particularly for continued individual and collective actions, as well as sharing of best practices, in securing infrastructure, travel, supply chains, and financial systems from terror acts.

Linking terrorism to the economy, the leaders said: “Economic growth, prosperity, and opportunity are among the most powerful tools to address the root causes of terrorism and radicalization.”

“We will not allow terrorism to threaten the fundamental values that underpin our free and open economies,” the leaders said.

“Under the shadow cast by the terrorist attack against the Russian aircraft over Sinai, and the attacks in Paris, Beirut, and elsewhere, we strongly condemn all acts, methods, and practices of terrorism in all their forms and manifestations,” they added.

The leaders apparently acted on the call of Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who on Wednesday asked APEC for a coordinated fight against terrorism, which is a “challenge to the whole civilized world.”

Terrorism is “not a crime against one country. It is a crime against the whole world,” he told APEC CEOs in a dialogue, said Medvedev, who attended the APEC Summit in behalf of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who begged off on domestic issues.

Terror attacks such as those against a Russian aircraft that killed 224 passengers are an area of cooperation that APEC should engage in, Medvedev said.

The first attack came on October 31, when a 1-kilogram TNT bomb planted on Russian A321 airliner killed all 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists going home after spending their holidays in Egypt. Almost two weeks after, on November 12, dual suicide bombings took more than 40 lives in Beirut, Lebanon. The following day, November 13, seven coordinated terror attacks in Paris killed at least 129 people.

In all three attacks, the Islamic State terrorist organization (also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility.

Veronica C. Uy, InterAksyon.com

* InterAksyon.com. The online news portal of TV5. November 19, 2015 5:26 PM:
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/120429/terror-hijacks-economy-in-apec2015

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