US
presence evolves in Southeast
Asia By Jacob Zenn
WASHINGTON - Impending budget cuts,
lingering regional perceptions of United States
imperialism and misbehavior by Asia-deployed US
troops have made "base" a four-letter word in much
of Southeast Asia. But as Washington puts renewed
strategic priority on the region, new flexible
arrangements bid to allow the US military to
regain a footing without stirring nationalist
sentiments.
Many Southeast Asian countries
welcome the US military's presence, especially in
light of China's provocations and assertive claims
to contested areas in the South China Sea. Yet any
hint of allowing the US to establish permanent
bases resembling those in Okinawa, Japan, or the
former Clark Air Base in the Philippines have been
rejected out of hand by lawmakers.
The US
plans to reinforce its military presence in
Southeast Asia
as the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan wind down and counterbalancing China's
rise assumes policy precedence. The modus operandi
for the expansion will focus on joint exercises,
rotations, and stationing and docking agreements
that avoid the establishment of costly bases.
Agreements with Australia and Singapore
are the model for the new US posture in the
region. The US has plans in four different
locations in Australia in what is emerging as
Washington's most dynamic bilateral military
relationship in the region.
In Brisbane, a
new Australian fleet base will be able to
accommodate visits from US warships and
submarines. In Perth, the expansion of the HMAS
Stirling naval base will accommodate visits by US
aircraft carriers, as well as warships and
submarines. In Darwin, as many as 2,500 US marines
are expected to participate in rotational
deployments. In the Cocos (Keeling) Islands,
located halfway between Australia and Sri Lanka,
an airfield is expected to be upgraded for P-8
surveillance aircraft and Global Hawk drones.
The US also intends to station four new US
Navy Littoral Combat ships and increase ship
visits and base surveillance aircraft in
Singapore. In addition, upgraded military
relations with Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia,
Indonesia and Brunei will support already existing
US plans with Australia, Singapore and the
Philippines.
Whereas the US's regional
focus has long concentrated on Northeast Asia,
that gaze is now shifting somewhat to Southeast
Asia. In a briefing on Asia-Pacific military
issues in Washington on January 27, Admiral Robert
Willard of the US Pacific Command said, "I look at
where the forces are and where they need to be
present day to day, we are biased in Northeast
Asia. And when we look at Southeast Asia and South
Asia, the pressure is on Pacific Command to deploy
and sustain forces there day to day."
He
added "initiatives such as Australia offered, or
such as Singapore offered, to allow us to rotate
forces from locations that are closer and more
adjacent to Southeast Asia affords Pacific Command
the opportunity to more conveniently have its
presence there and felt, and not rely so terribly
much on sustainment at great cost in the region…
but there's no aspiration for bases in Southeast
Asia."
The refocus on Southeast Asia is a
subcomponent of President Barack Obama's
"strategic pivot" to the Asia-Pacific in 2011. The
policy pivot has involved signing onto the Treaty
of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia,
establishment of a mission to the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta,
confirmation of a special representative and
policy coordinator for Myanmar, and a deepening of
US bilateral relations with different regional
nations.
In that same spirit of
engagement, the US participated for the first time
as a full-fledged member of the East Asian Summit
in November 2011 in Bali, Indonesia. The
initiatives have helped to counter earlier
official perceptions in Southeast Asia that the US
neglected the region in favor of pursuit of its
global "war on terrorism" and more strategically
volatile Northeast Asia.
Philippine
pivot point The key rung to the US strategy
in Southeast Asia is the Philippines, a former US
colony where it maintained two strategic military
bases, Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base, from
after World War II until 1991, when the Philippine
Senate voted to reject a new treaty for the bases.
In 1999, the Philippines-US Visiting Forces
Agreement came into effect that governs the
conduct of visiting US forces, especially during
military exercises. This agreement has served
as a sort of substitute for the two former bases
since US troops may be deployed in the country for
so-called "training" exercises. Since 1998, US
troops have participated in regular and recurring
military exercises in the Philippines involving as
many as 5,000 troops, In November 2002, the
Philippines agreed to allow the US to store and
pre-position equipment in the country.
In
the context of the "war on terror", the agreements
with the Philippines have also allowed the US to
deploy unmanned drones to help the Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) locate Abu Sayyaf hideouts
in the remote southern island of Mindanao. This
was exhibited in February 2012 when a sensor
placed in an Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islameeyah (JI)
hideout by local villagers provided US unmanned
drones with the location of the terrorists'
hideout.
Subsequently, the Philippines Air
Force conducted an air strike that killed JI
leaders Zulkifli bin Hir and Muawayah, Abu Sayyaf
leader Gumbahali Jumdail, and 12 other Abu Sayyaf
fighters. The most prominent of the US unmanned
drone facilities in the Philippines is the "Joint
Special Operations Task Force-Philippines
(JSOTF-P)," headquartered in Zamboanga but with
operations throughout Mindanao.
After the
drone-assisted February operation, certain
Philippine lawmakers have complained about the
US's use of drones in Philippine territory. The
uncertainty about the US presence in the
Philippines is indicative of the complications the
US faces throughout the region. Allegations of
abuse by US servicemen are frequently reported in
the Philippines, including a high profile rape
case in 2006 involving a US Lance Corporal and
local Filipina that resulted in a conviction.
While these criminal actions have proven
to be the exception to the rule, locals
consistently cite such examples as the reason why
a US presence is unwelcome near their villages.
There are also fears in the pristine Philippine
island of Palawan that the US presence is less to
preserve security than for US commercial interests
to begin exploration for oil and gas and other
minerals.
In January 2012, Philippine
defense officials visited Washington for strategic
talks and left with an agreement to increase
cooperation in areas including maritime security,
defense, commerce, and disaster relief. While a
"rotating" and "frequent" US presence was
discussed, the issue of establishing any type of
permanent bases was not on the agenda.
New
strategic priorities, including counterbalancing
China's rise and security over vital waterways
like the South China Sea, has prompted a renewed
US focus on Southeast Asia. While many Southeast
Asian countries complained of US "neglect" in the
2000's, now the discussion is quickly shifting
towards whether new US emphasis, intended to allow
for a lighter but more versatile footprint, will
eventually lead to more calm or conflict in the
region.
Jacob Zenn works as a
legal advisor in the field of civil society law
and is an international affairs analyst focusing
on Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and Nigeria. He
was a US State Department Critical Language
Scholar in Indonesia in 2011.
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