Philippine
ex-president Fidel Ramos said Wednesday that China's recent assertiveness over
sea disputes was motivated by a desire to challenge US power, as he predicted
more tensions to come.
On a visit to Washington, Ramos described China and the
United States as "shadow-boxing" over the South China Sea and East
China Sea where Beijing has growing friction with countries including the
Philippines, Vietnam and Japan.
"China's proximate aim, it seems to me, is to limit
American freedom of access" and "erode the credibility of
Washington's security guarantees to the East Asian states, including and
especially the Philippines," Ramos, who was president from 1992 to 1998,
said at the Heritage Foundation think-tank.
"We, where we come from, expect South China Sea tensions
to continue because the root cause is really China's perceived need to break
out from under the strategic dominance of the Western allies," Ramos said.
However, Ramos said he did not expect military confrontation
due to the vast US military superiority over China. He called for governments
to shift away spending from the military to fighting "real enemies"
such as poverty.
Ramos was visiting Washington as part of 60th anniversary
commemorations of the Mutual Defense Treaty between Washington and its former
colony. Elsewhere in the region, the United States also has security pacts with
Australia, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
Ramos welcomed the role of the US military in Asia, saying it
had provided security to Asia and allowed it to grow economically.
Amid the tension with China, Philippine President Benigno
Aquino has allocated 11 billion pesos ($252 million) to upgrade his country's
navy, whose flagship vessel dates from World War II.
Source : AFP
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