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SPECIAL REPORT | Subic: It looks like a US base, it acts like a US base, but is it a US base?
Topic Started: Nov 20 2012, 11:45 AM (925 Views)
Furbolling
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SPECIAL REPORT | Subic: It looks like a US base, it acts like a US base, but is it a US base?

SUBIC BAY, Philippines - From his office window, Roberto Garcia watches workers repair the USS Emory S. Land, a submarine support vessel that is part of a US military buildup as Washington turns its attention to fast-growing Asia and a newly assertive China.

The Philippines, Australia and other parts of the region have seen a resurgence of US warships, planes and personnel since President Barack Obama announced a "pivot" in foreign, economic and security policy towards Asia late last year.

Washington insists the shift is not about containing China or a permanent return to military bases of the past. But it is sometimes tough to tell the difference at Subic Bay, a deepwater port near vital sea lanes and border disputes in the South China Sea that have raised tensions between China and Southeast Asian nations.

"Every month we have ships coming. A few weeks ago, we had the submarines, we've had the aircraft carriers," said Garcia, chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, which oversees an economic zone built on the former US base. "They cannot find this kind of facility anywhere else in Asia."

The territorial tensions and the US shift towards the region will be high on the agenda when Obama visits Southeast Asia in coming days.

The Pentagon says the United States has "no intention of re-establishing bases in the Philippines."

But activity in Subic, a breezy coastal city about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Manila that has the feel of a tidy American suburb with shopping malls, fast-food outlets and well-lit streets, resembles a buildup.

As of October, 70 US Navy ships had passed through Subic, more than the 55 in 2011 and the 51 in 2010.

The Pentagon says more than 100 US planes stop over each month at Clark, another former US base located between Manila and Subic.

"It's like leasing a car as opposed to buying it - all the advantages of ownership with a reduced risk," said James Hardy, Asia-Pacific editor of IHS Jane's Defense Weekly.

"If you look at Subic, the US will be leveraging Philippine bases and assets, privately owned assets, and all at a fraction of the monetary and political price of taking back ownership of the base. It gives the US the same strategic reach that basing would have done but without all the hassle."

US forces were evicted from Subic and Clark, the last and largest of their bases in the Philippines, in 1992. They revived close ties from 2000 with war games, frequent visits and by helping against communist and Muslim insurgents.

Emphasizing Subic's renewed role , South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries, which has invested $2 billion in the port's shipyards, signed an agreement this spring with AMSEC, a unit of Pentagon contractor Huntington Ingalls Industries, to set up a maintenance and logistics hub to serve US warships.

As a Pacific power, the United States has an interest in freedom of navigation, stability, respect for international law and unimpeded, lawful commerce across sea lanes, said Major Catherine Wilkinson, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

"Our military presence in the region helps to maintain peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific," she told Reuters.

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spearhead
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Ofcourse it will look like a military base because they have to escort and protect their ships with armed facilities and other warships, otherwise who else are going to provide security for the US ships, china? Pakyu reds.

Ofcourse it's very normal to provide support as well for their military personnels by establishing amenities and other R&R infrastructures. Funny mediamen.
"Men of War must learn the art of numbers or he will not know how to array his troops." - Plato

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pachador


I wonder whats the point of the reporter ?? other than to instigate a reaction...
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Hong Nam
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Bought by China

pachador
Nov 20 2012, 03:30 PM
I wonder whats the point of the reporter ?? other than to instigate a reaction...
Nothing else to write about and just wanted a beat the deadline. :headbang:


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arvcab
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It's not a US military base but just a huge Parking lot.
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Furbolling
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maybe he was Anti-Military(or a Commie).

but it's good new's for us for when the US started putting ship near us they stop taking about they will make WAR on us and other B***s***t they are talking about us.

take note they want to us the UNCLOS against Japan but when it comes in Panatag at Spratley they didn't what to take the Case to International Law. In short they knew they can't win the case against us.
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seWer Rat
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amateur sewer cleaner

I take this article positively. If it implies to our foreign friends that the US naval base in Subic has resurrected itself the better it is.
To avoid criticism, write nothing, say nothing, do nothing, BE NOTHING.
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Tsukiyomi
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UNCLOS will not work for China in the case of Japan either. Chine has to show long term control over those rocky islets and prior to Japan taking them the Chinese exerted no formal control of any kind. As I said before, the only time the Chinese gave a crap was after oil was discovered.
Edited by Tsukiyomi, Nov 22 2012, 02:07 AM.
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