Manila vows to bolster air force

Philippine President Benigno Aquino vowed on Monday to bolster the country's air force within three years, after recent provocations against China.

Analysts said that if Manila continues to be a troublemaker it will harm ties in the region, where most countries are seeking more cooperation.

"I assure you that before I step down from office, our skies will be guarded by modern air assets," said Aquino, whose six-year term will end in mid-2016, in a speech at Clark Air Base, north of Manila.

Among these assets are "lead-in fighters, long-range patrol aircraft and close-air-support aircraft", as well as transport planes, attack- and multi-use helicopters, air-defense radar and flight simulators.

Aquino has set about modernizing the military in his first three years in office as tensions rise with China over overlapping territorial claims to islands and waters in the South China Sea.

Yang Baoyun, an expert at Peking University, said Aquino is trying to build up confidence in confrontation with China by acquiring more weapons and holding joint military exercises with other countries such as the United States.

"But the support it gets from Washington is very limited. Their joint military exercises are not targeted at disputed areas and the weapons the US sold to the Philippines are not that advanced," Yang said.

It is also a question whether Philippine economic capability can afford the large cost of its military buildup, said Yang.

The main focus of Philippine military modernization was the navy, with the acquisition of two Hamilton-class cutters decommissioned by the US Coast Guard.

The first of the two refurbished vessels became the Philippine navy's flagship in 2011, replacing a warship initially built for the US Navy in World War II. The second cutter is set to arrive in the Philippines later this year.

What Manila is doing goes against the general trend of regional integration, said Yang, noting that many of the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations do not agree with Manila on its provocations on the territorial issues.

"The Philippines should know clearly that it cannot be an outsider in regional integration for the sake of its own development," Yang said.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday that China is not responsible for the tensions in the South China Sea in recent years.

This year, Manila intended to pile reinforcement at the Ren'ai Reef, on which a Philippine warship was illegally grounded in 1999, Hua said.

It is reasonable that China responded to such actions, which violate China's territory and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, she said.

Hua emphasized that China has enough sincerity and patience to resolve the issue through bilateral talks with countries that directly have disputes with China on the basis of the declaration.

On Sunday, the Philippines issued strongly worded accusations against China on the sidelines on an ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting.

In a statement, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario accused China of a massive military buildup in the South China Sea and described it as a threat to peace, AFP reported.

"For a country that has been zealous about taking in retired warships from other countries to build up its military power and that has from time to time conducted war games in the South China Sea, the top Philippine diplomat's claims carried a particularly strong sense of irony and absurdity," a commentary by Xinhua News Agency said.

"The Philippines, under its current administration, has been a true troublemaker in the region," it said.

Contact the writers at chengguangjin@chinadaily.com.cn and zhouwa@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/02/2013 page12)