Obama Expresses Support for Philippines in China Rift
Source: New York Times
A festering quarrel that began over rare coral, giant clams and sharks in a distant sea made its way to the Oval Office on Friday, as President Benigno S. Aquino III of the Philippines sought the backing of President Obama in a maritime dispute with China.
The Philippines and China have been locked in a tense standoff for two months over rights to a triangular cluster of reefs and rocks in the South China Sea known as Scarborough Shoal. While Mr. Aquino said he did not want to drag the United States into the conflict, he clearly hoped for Mr. Obama’s diplomatic support.
And he got it, if obliquely, on Friday. Mr. Obama told reporters after the meeting with Mr. Aquino that the United States and the Philippines would “consult closely together” as part of “the announced pivot by the United States back to Asia,” which he said should serve as a reminder that “in fact, the United States considers itself, and is, a Pacific power.”
Mr. Obama did not mention China or the standoff at Scarborough Shoal, but he said that he and Mr. Aquino discussed the need for “a strong set of international norms and rules governing maritime disputes in the region.”
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/09/world/asia/obama-shows-support-for-philippines-in-china-standoff.html
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