Posted to the left-of-center Asia Times (Sep 28): US 'pivots' on the Philippines

...On September 5, Philippine President Benigno Aquino issued Administrative Order 29, which officially renames the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea on national maps. After making the executive order, he notably failed days later to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the recent Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting held in Russia....The Philippines' growing assertiveness in the face of veiled Chinese threats is more than a calculated strategy to push claims while China is preoccupied with a potentially more volatile dispute with Japan. Rather, Manila's emboldened position banks on expected United States' assistance in the event heated rhetoric boils over into armed confrontation....

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/NI28Ae01.html