US warns it will defend Philippines after Chinese vessels incidents

[rhino on INGO]

Maybe Afghanistan isn't a direct comparison. However, if you leave all the military equipment out you still have a lot of facilities left that we built and paid for and then abandoned.

I can't disagree with that. When it happened, it was disappointing and puzzling why they would kick us out. Their economy paid a heavy price for it for quite a while after that, which they should have expected (and maybe did). On the bright side, if we go back now, at least we didn't have those expenses for the thirty years in the interim.

[penates]

They kicked us out of 2 US military bases in 1992 and we still have a treaty w/ them? But apparently they have seen the light.
https://time.com/6252750/philippines...reement-china/
Jeez, so those bases of ours we walked away from just like we did in Afghanistan. How many billions did that cost us? And now they want us to spend billions more to build new ones? Will we ever stop being taken advantage of? Yeah, let's look at these treaties.

Well, Clark AB was damaged by the eruption of Mt Pinatubo in 1991. As far as kicking the US out of Clark and Subic Bay, the Philipino gvt was still pretty pissed about our support off the Marcos regime and the PRC was not even a blip in the Pacific. We have had ties and treaties with the PI since 1899 when the country was a US territory. Filipinos were US nationals until 1946 so the ties between the PI and US are longer standing than say Germany, Poland, Japan, etc.

[Coyotesfan97]

Jeez, are we going to defend every dang country on the planet from every other country? Heck we have already given away some too large % of our munitions stockpiles that I worry about defending ourselves. All these munitions that we gave away will probably cost at least double the original price to buy more to resupply our stockpiles.

I remember taking US Military History in college which was taught by Otis Young my all time favorite college professor. He always wore black glasses, a white collared shirt, a black tie, and back pants. He had a flat top. He was a veteran. He would’ve been considered not PC.

Anyways when he talked about the Philippines he said whoever controlled them controlled the SE Asia sea routes. He was very emphatic about why we had a strong interest there.

[TGS]

I don't think there is much similarity between relinquishing the bases and presence in the Philippines to what happened in Afghanistan. For example, do not believe that the former resulted in leaving $80B worth of current issue weapons and gear in the hands of people who overtly want to kill all of us, as did the latter.

Well, also consider that's completely fictitious to begin with.

[Caballoflaco]

If somebody doesn’t post up a map of how how far this is from China by lunch I’ll find one this afternoon. This is some CCP 9-line bullshit here.

[DDTSGM]

[CleverNickname]

If somebody doesn’t post up a map of how how far this is from China by lunch I’ll find one this afternoon. This is some CCP 9-line bullshit here.

Second Thomas Shoal is approximately where the red circle is.

[Caballoflaco]

To get a bit more specific than Dan’s map above, Second Thomas Shoals (noted by the red pin) is way down yonder in between the Philippines and South Vietnam



Below is the 9 Dash Line China is trying to claim as its national waters…





@CleverNickname beat me to it. Thanks. I’ll leave it mine up just because I like maps.

[Caballoflaco]

Here’s a surprisingly good article from Vox of all places talking about the 9 dash line, the Barbie movie and Hollywood’s CCP appeasement.

https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/7/1...-vietnam-china

[Caballoflaco]

Good to see Xi’s visit really helped ease tensions and increase cooperation between the US and China

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna127859

HONG KONG — China’s military said Monday that a U.S. warship had “illegally” entered waters near the Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll in the South China Sea that is claimed by China, the Philippines and others.

China’s Southern Theater Command said it had sent a naval force to follow and monitor the USS Gabrielle Giffords, a littoral combat ship designed for operations near shore, accusing the United States of raising tensions in the region.


“The U.S. infringes China’s sovereignty and safety, disrupts regional peace and stability and violates international law and the basic norms of international relations,” a spokesperson said in a statement on the Southern Theater Command’s official WeChat account.

The U.S. Navy rejected China’s accusation, saying the USS Giffords “was conducting routine operations in international waters in the South China Sea, consistent with international law.”

“Every day the U.S. 7th Fleet operates in the South China Sea, as they have for decades,” deputy public affairs officer Kristina Wiedemann told NBC News via email. “The operations demonstrate we are committed to upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific region.