Pelosi-Dalai Lama visit will ‘add to the tension’ with China says Adm. Stavridis - YouTube - NBC News

NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell interviews Admiral James Stavridis,former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

Challenging China:USN Guided-Missile Destroyer

Tensions are near boiling point in the South China Sea following a US Navy guided-missile destroyer's patrol within a 12 mile limit claimed by China.The USS Lassen (DDG 82) drew shadowing from a Chinese PLA Navy guided-missile destroyer and naval patrol boat,as well as bridge-to-bridge warnings from the Chinese vessels,when it patrolled off Subi and Mischief Reefs,where China has built artificial islands.The patrol lasted two hours.*
The two reefs the Lassen patrolled off of are part of a series of island-building projects China has been working on in the region,constructing facilities on them believed suitable for military use,such as airstrips long enough for fighter jets and a harbour that can handle Chinese warships.Both Subi and Mischief Reefs have military length airstrips on them,according to satellite imagery.*
The US doesn't accept a 12 mile limit off of manmade islands.Along with other Asia-Pacific nations such as the Philippines and Vietnam,the US insists the South China Sea is international waters that are critical shipping lanes.The Lassen's patrol,which lasted two hours,is the first of a series of American freedom of navigation exercises in the face of China's territorial claims,a US official promised.*
If the US continues this,China counters,it might have to expand its capabilities.The US illegally entered the waters.The military will take all necessary steps to protect the nation's security.China criticised what it feels is the US coercive action that seeks to militarise the South China Sea region.It will firmly defend China's territory sovereignty,security and its lawful and proper maritime rights and interests.China will firmly respond to deliberate provocation from any country,said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang.*
The USS Lassen is homeported in Yokosuka,Japan.Its armament includes Harpoon,Tomahawk and Standard missiles;a Mk45 5-inch/62-caliber gun;and Mk32 dual surface vessel torpedo tube launchers.

US,Philippines Strengthen Military Ties

The US and the Philippines signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement on 27 April,saying it updates and builds on the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951.Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren,US Army,said the pact facilitates the enhanced rotational presence of US forces,expands opportunities for training and supports the long-term modernisation of the Philippines military.The US is particularly focused on strengthening Philippine maritime security,enhancing maritime domain awareness and improving humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities,according to COL Warren.
The signing was part of President Barrack Obama's visit to the Philippines during his recent Asian tour.The President said the agreement aims to enhance our capabilities so that if there's a natural disaster that takes place,we're able to potentially respond more quickly;if there are additional threats that may arise,that we are able to work in a cooperative fashion.COL Warren added that the US is allowed to pre-position relief supplies in the Philippines under the pact,but it does not provide for permanent US bases,and we have no intention to open permanent bases in the Philippines.
The agreement does permit the US to build infrastructure to support the new US troop rotations,although the exact nature and schedule of the rotations has yet to be finalised.Philippine President Benigno Aquino said the pact takes security cooperation to a higher level of engagement,reaffirms our countries' commitment to mutual defence and security and promotes regional peace and stability.
The subtext of the agreement is:we need to better contain China's increasing capabilities and intentions in the South China Sea and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region.
In 2012,the Philippines agreed in principle that the US could once again use Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Base with prior Philippine approval.The former US bases were closed in the early 1990s.Since then,US Marines have held jungle warfare training with Philippine marines and US Special Operations forces have helped Philippine soldiers combat Islamic and other militants in the south of the country.
The US Marine Corps has likewise established troop rotations in Darwin,Australia as part of America's pivot to the Pacific national security strategy.

Philippines Seeks More US Troops

The government of the Philippines is seeking more US troops to rotate through Philippines military bases,as well as pre-positioned equipment.It is on a temporary basis,the Philippines stresses.Negotiations are to begin today,Wednesday.*Hundreds of US troops currently rotate through the Southeast Asian nation,providing counterterrorism training and holding annual combat exercises with Filipino forces,in response to internal threats by various militant groups,including one linked to al-Qaida.*The Philippines wants a bigger US presence to deter foreign incursions in its territorial waters as well,providing more maritime security and maritime domain awareness,as well as natural disaster response.In recent times,they have become preoccupied by territorial disputes with China and Vietnam.Last year China seized a lagoon off the country's Northwest coast inside the Philippines 200-mile/332 kilometer exclusive economic zone,the Filipino government says.China also claims a shoal further south which was occupied by Chinese troops in 1995.*The US had previously maintained Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Base.In 1991,the Pinatubo volcano erupted,devastating both US bases.Clark was closed permanently,but Subic was restored.In 1992,the US left Subic as well when the Philippines Senate refused to ratify a new base lease agreement,against the wishes of President Corazon Aquino.*In November 2012,the Benigno Aquino III government invited the US Navy and Marine Corps back to Subic Bay on a semi-permanent basis.The new negotiations are intended to extend this presence to other areas besides the Southern Philippines,where Subic Bay is located.

Marines Exercise Near Controversial Islands

Six Asian countries,including China and the Philippines,lay claim to some of the Spratly Islands.Nonetheless,U.S. and Philippine Marines are holding two weeks of military exercises near the disputed islands.Some 3,000 troops are participating.The most sensitive exercise will be a mock raid by the forces to capture a hostile beach head on the South China Sea.
A U.S. Marine Corps spokesman denied the exercises were aimed at a specific country;they are merely intended to improve regional security capability.
The Spratlys are part of a vast archipelago of more than 750 islands,reefs and atolls off the Philppine and Malaysian coasts in the South China Sea,which China considers to be its territorial waters.The international community doesn't agree with China's expansive concept.
The Spratlys consist of only four square kilometers of land,but the archipelago is flung across more than 425 square kilometers of sea.
The Spratlys are considered important as way marks for territorial claims on natural resources believed to be in and under the South China Sea,including fisheries and oil and gas.A number of the islands are patrolled by small military units of China;Vietnam;Taiwan;Malaysia;and the Philippines,as a way to assert these claims.This has resulted in minor armed clashes over the past thirty years.