The Asia Center of American think tank Heritage Foundation has issued an analysis authored by the center’s director prodding Washington D.C. to take notice of the security implications in the Asia Pacific region of the Spratly islands territorial dispute.
Mr. Walter Lohman’s February 26 report points out in a forthright tone that China’s expansionist designs are obvious and could be lead to a serious crisis several years down the road.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/upload/wm_2313.pdf
Lohman’s analysis is anchored on the recently passed Philippine territorial baselines bill which is awaiting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s signature but has been protested by Beijing.
Lohman’s piece is a cogent recitation of the diplomatic impasse.
One matter though, if indeed the baselines bill becomes law it remain to be see if the revision of the Philippines’s international treaty limits genuinely promote the nation’s interests or put them at risk.
Most instructive is a recent report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism here:
http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=2239
The main Philippine outpost over at the Spratly’s Pag-Asa Island could become the next flash point:
http://midfield.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/pag-asa-islandthe-next-flash-point/
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Side-topic: People with MasterCard or Visa or Paypal interested in providing short-term loans to Filipino farmers, click here:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&queryString=philippines&status=fundRaising&gender=All§ors=All®ions=All&sortBy=Repayment+Term
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The side-topic : KIVA — That link I gave allows supremo, benign0, Abe Margallo or leytenian to help a farmer in Isabela or Cotabato. Not a charity-donation but with an interest-free loan for a 4-month or longer time period.
So Ding : send e-mail to your foren-dyer friends about KIVA and ask them to check it out — to combat world-poverty.
An island so small. It is not worthy arguing for.
it’s not the island..
it’s what is potentially under it..
It no the island…
ITS OUR PRIDE!!!
I’ll be proud to have the islands! But how?
And what did they say up the hill? Not now or something like… we appreciate your inputs and we’ll keep in touch. Or Obama uttered “and I’m a leprechaun”.
Be it high tide or low tde… choose your weapon! Yun boots ni Mannix mabaho yun.
could the country discuss the latest update about it then open it to mass media??