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US approves transfer of second warship to the Philippines
Congress has approved the transfer of a second Coast Guard ship to the Philippines, an official said Friday. In the past, U.S. cooperation with the Philippines has mainly focused on counterterrorism, but it has recently expanded to building up the country's moribund navy.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro said Friday that he will consider a Philippine request to have the warship turned over with as much military equipment as possible.

After talks with Philippine defense officials, he said, "I'm pleased that the congressional notification period for a second Coast Guard cutter expired this week, so that means Congress has now approved the transfer ... to the Philippines, which will further help Philippine security needs."

The ship — the second such delivery since last May — is just one of many defense projects that the U.S. is considering with the Philippines. That comes in addition to having American ships regularly visit and refuel in Philippine ports, rotating U.S. troops in the southern Philippines where Al Qaeda-linked Muslim terrorists militants are active and holding large-scale joint military exercises.

China views with worry the increased U.S. military involvement with the Philippines and balked at what it considers to be Washington's interference in the South China Sea dispute. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan all have conflicting territorial claims over potentially gas and oil rich islands with China.

Shapiro said that U.S. policy takes no position on the claims by any of the parties, and that disputes should not be resolved through the use of force and that its defense cooperation with the Philippines is not directed against China any one country. But he also said that his government is committed to assisting the Philippines with its security needs and "fully intends to meet its obligations under the Mutual Defense Treaty."

Shapiro said, "Traditionally our focus was on helping the Philippines address the internal security threat. Given the progress that the Philippine forces and police have made addressing the threat, we're now at a point when both our governments believe we can transition our support towards helping them in maritime security issues."
Posted by: ryuge 2012-02-11
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=338847