US, China vie for Philippine military influence
By Noel Tarrazona
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Competition for military influence in the
Philippines is heating up, with both the US and China making new pledges of
funds, arms and equipment to help modernize the Armed Forces of the
Philippines.
Since 2002, Washington has poured hundreds of millions of dollars of military
aid into helping the Philippine Army combat radical Islamist groups as part of
the US-led campaign against terrorism in Southeast Asia. Now China is
responding in kind with
its own offers of military assistance to modernize and improve the army's
capabilities.
Chinese Defense Secretary Cao Gangchuan and his Philippine counterpart Gilbert
Teodoro Jr met this month to discuss new ways to enhance bilateral military
cooperation. As part of his five-day "goodwill" visit, Cao was granted full
military honors at the Department of National Defense, which on the occasion
announced that bilateral relations are entering a new "golden age of
partnership".
The senior Chinese defense official later met with President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo and other senior politicians. Cao pledged an initial US$6.6
million grant to the Philippine Army in what was announced as a
"confidence-building" measure. According to senior Arroyo administration
officials, the grant was provisionally for non-lethal military equipment,
including construction machinery earmarked for the army's engineering
department, which manages development projects in various conflict-ridden
areas.
Philippine government sources confirmed that the initial grant will also cover
the creation of a Chinese-language training program for the military,
participation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in future naval exercises
in China, and five seats for Filipino officials to enroll in intensive military
courses in Beijing. The cooperative agreement builds on Arroyo's 2004 visit to
China, where defense officials of both countries agreed to a continuing
dialogue on security matters.
Arroyo has made several visits to China and has reportedly appointed at least
four special envoys to manage the two countries' growing economic, political
and strategic ties. That strategic cooperation took a significant economic turn
this month, with Arroyo signing a confidential protocol with China related to
the exploitation of South China Sea oil resources. Government sources also told
Asia Times Online that the agreement would allow China to explore for oil
resources within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, including within
areas the two sides have historically disputed.
Depending on how the various cooperative programs play out, China appears ready
to ante up substantial assistance toward modernizing the Philippine Army's
military machinery. A Philippine television station reported that China had
offered provisionally to provide as much as $1.2 billion in financial
facilities for the Philippine military. The report did not divulge details of
the apparent agreement, including conditions concerning how or over what period
the funds must be spent. Philippine defense officials contacted by Asia Times
Online would not confirm or deny the report.
Nor has the Defense Department articulated how Chinese financial assistance
would fit, if at all, with the ongoing and expanding US military joint
exercises in the southern Philippines, aimed in particular at uprooting the Abu
Sayyaf terror group. Officials told Asia Times Online that the Philippine
government views both US and Chinese military assistance as "beneficial", but
declined to acknowledge any competition for local influence between the two
rivals for regional influence.
"We treat all nations equally. Under our constitution, we have to treat and
respect all nations as good neighbors in the spirit of amity and cooperation,"
Defense Minister Teodoro was quoted in the Philippine press as saying when
asked how the country's growing strategic ties with China would impact on
Manila's ties with Washington. "Closer ties regionally with all our neighbors
are good for the military. We agreed to continue to dialogue, which is a mutual
exchange of views regarding regional concerns."
Competitive arms
Apart from dialogue, China is bidding to become a leading supplier of arms to
the Philippine Army, which has recently relied largely on the US for its
procurements. Beijing has reportedly recently offered to sell at a discount
rate eight Harbin Z-9 utility helicopters to Manila. A licensed copy of
Eurocopter's AS365N Dauphin, the Z-9 has since 1980 been manufactured by the
Chinese company, a subsidiary of Beijing's state-owned AVIC II, can transport
10 armed soldiers, and reputedly can be configured for so-called electronic
warfare.
The army also reportedly needs new, modern attack and utility helicopters for
its expanding fight against Muslim separatists in the country's restive
southern regions. In July, as part of the government's military-modernization
campaign, Arroyo earmarked P5 billion ($106 million) for the purchase of new
helicopters. The air force has allocated an additional P1.3 billion to purchase
six helicopters with night-attack capabilities, and sources say military
planners are leaning toward Boeing's MD530-MG. The air force currently operates
an aging fleet of MD520s, Bell UH-1H transports, and Sikorsky S-76 assault
helicopters.
Arroyo has gone out of her way to demonstrate equal treatment toward both the
US and China, repeatedly saying her administration welcomes any
military-related venture that is beneficial to the Philippine people. The US
has emphasized development projects with the military aid it has extended to
conflict-ridden areas in the southern island of Mindanao and the positive
impact the assistance has had on the local economy, including the creation of
badly needed jobs. The US recently launched a series of new military-related
projects across the region estimated to be worth about $14.4 million.
China has likewise emphasized economics in pursuit of strategic leverage. That
includes the two sides' expanding trade ties, including most recently at the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Sydney, where Philippine Trade
Minister Peter Favila and Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai exchanged new
trade commitments. Favila told reporters, "As long as I am the minister, we
should not allow anything that will get in the way of furthering relations. So
let us look at the bigger picture ... our trade with China is expanding."
Arroyo's recent visits to China this year not only benefited the Philippine
Army but also several powerful ethnic-Chinese Philippine business people, known
locally as tsinoys, who are rapidly expanding their enterprises into
China. The ethnic-Chinese Gokongwei family, which has expansive interests in
telecommunications, financial services, petrochemicals and power, has through a
foundation sent more than 50 young Filipino leaders to China to study that
country's economic-development model.
China's recent economic charm offensive toward Southeast Asia in general and
the Philippines in particular is clearly starting to take a hard strategic
turn, aimed specifically at counterbalancing US military influence in the
region. At the same time, Washington seems keen, under the guise of combating
terrorism, to establish a new military foothold in the Philippines, where until
1991 the US maintained significant military assets at the Subic and Clark
military bases.
So far Arroyo has played both Beijing and Washington deftly and in the process
secured significant benefits for both the Philippine military and the economy.
But as US-China competition for regional military supremacy intensifies, it
will likely be an increasingly difficult balance for her and future Philippine
administrations to strike.
Noel T Tarrazona is a journalist and training consultant to
non-governmental organizations promoting Christian-Muslim peace dialogue and
leadership training in the southern Philippines. He may be contacted at
zpressclub@yahoo.com.
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
