US has ‘strategic stake’ in West Philippine Sea–official

NUSA DUA–US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will tell her Asian counterparts on Saturday the United States has a “strategic stake” in the West Philippine Sea also known as South China Sea, an official travelling with her said.

The official said Clinton would make a “very detailed statement” at a regional security summit in Indonesia about the importance of the West Philippine Sea to American and global commerce.

“We have a strategic stake in how issues there are managed,” the official said, citing comments Clinton was preparing to make in her speech to the ASEAN Regional Forum on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

She would highlight the importance of “freedom of navigation”, “unimpeded legal commerce” and “the maintenance of peace and stability” in the West Philippine Sea according to the official.

Clinton’s comments will likely irk China, which has long insisted the United States has no role to play in its increasingly tense disputes with rival claimants to the West Philippine Sea.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims with China to all or parts of the West Philippine Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits and home to shipping lanes vital to global trade.

Regional tensions have escalated in recent months amid accusations by the Philippines and Vietnam that China has taken increasingly aggressive actions in staking its claims to the area.

China and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced on Wednesday in Bali a “breakthrough” in the dispute, endorsing a set of guidelines designed to reduce tensions in the waterway.

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell told reporters in Bali that the United States welcomed the development.

“We welcome this as an important first step. It has lowered the tensions, improved atmospherics,” Campbell said.

“But clearly it’s just that: a first step, and we’re going to need to see follow-on interactions between China and ASEAN.”