The increasing presence of US warships and combat troops in the Philippines, and now of US-allied Japanese forces as well, make a mockery of Philippine sovereignty and reduces the capability of the Philippines to exercise an independent foreign policy.

 

NEWS RELEASE
By CPP Information Bureau
18 September 2013

Successive dockings of US, Japanese warships are affront on Philippine sovereignty -- CPP

 

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemned the successive dockings of US and Japanese warships in Philippine ports in the past few days as an “affront on Philippine sovereignty”.
 

The CPP added that the dockings are meant to “strengthen US hegemonist aims in the Asia-Pacific, stoke further the South China Sea conflict and make the peaceful resolution of the Spratly conflict more difficult to achieve.”

The CPP issued this statement as two US warships arrived yesterday at Subic Bay to participate in war games at the South China Sea conflict area with troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, and the USS New Orleans, an amphibious transport dock ship, are part of the Box Amphibious Ready Group, and are capable of launching amphibious assault operations.

Earlier last Sunday, two Japanese warships arrived and docked at Manila Bay. The JS Akebona (DD-108) and the JS Hamagiri (DD-155) are under the Escort Six Division of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. For two days, the Japanese warships underwent so-called “reprovisioning, rest and recreation”.

“The increasing and continuing presence of US warships and combat troops in the Philippines, and now of US-allied Japanese forces as well, make a mockery of Philippine sovereignty and reduces the capability of the Philippines to exercise an independent foreign policy,” pointed out the CPP.

“By allowing the US military to station its forces permanently in the Philippines, the Aquino regime has for all intents surrendered Philippine independence and tied Philippine foreign policy to that of the US.”

“The puppet Aquino regime must be held responsible for the continuing degeneration of Philippine sovereignty,” declared the CPP. “After three years, the Aquino regime has thoroughly trashed Philippine sovereignty as it has subsumed itself completely to the foreign policy dictates of the US government.”