The Obama administration has announced that it is sending additional troops to the Philippines as part of an effort to strengthen military ties with its treaty ally. Those forces will augment the small contingent dispatched to the Philippines shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when Manila asked for assistance in combating a Muslim insurgency that supposedly had links to al-Qaida. The 2001 deployment ended a decade in which the United States had no forces stationed in the Philippines after the Philippine government declined to renew the leases for Clark air base and the Subic Bay naval base.
It is no secret that ever since the loss of these bases the Pentagon has wanted to re-establish a significant US military presence in the Philippines. Washington insists that this is because of the need to counter the terrorist threat to the democratic Philippine government, and more generally to strengthen the US’ ability to preserve peace and stability in East Asia.
But one doesn’t have to attend many foreign policy gatherings in Washington to hear quiet — and sometimes not-so-quiet — comments that suggest another motive. To the hawks in the US, troop deployment in the Philippines is merely part of a much broader strategy aimed at containing or encircling China.
An enhanced military position in the Philippines is merely the latest development, other US actions in recent years also show it is trying to contain China. During his visit to Australia in November, President Obama announced that the US was sending an additional 2,500 Marines as well as combat aircraft to that country. In a speech to the Australian parliament, Obama boldly asserted that, “the United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay.” He added that, “the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future.”
Experts in the US and elsewhere interpreted those comments as sending a message that Washington intended to do whatever was necessary to counter China’s growing power and influence.
There were signs that the US was adopting an encirclement strategy during the administration of George W. Bush. The Bush administration strengthened not only the US’ economic ties with its former arch-adversary, Vietnam, but there were talks about providing US naval forces access to Vietnamese ports. And, far more than any of its predecessors, the Bush administration sought to forge a strategic partnership with India, including signing an agreement on nuclear cooperation that critics charged was an implicit acceptance of New Delhi’s nuclear weapons program.
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