'An embarrassing incident,' US diplomat says of American ship stuck on Tubbataha Reef

From InterAksyon (Jan 22): 'An embarrassing incident,' US diplomat says of American ship stuck on Tubbataha Reef



John Negroponte, former US ambassador to the Philippines, emphasizes a point during his talk in Makati. (Bernard Testa, InterAksyon.com)

An embarrassing incident. This was how a former United States ambassador to the Philippines described the case of a US Navy vessel that remains stuck on the Tubbataha Reef, a marine preserve in the Sulu Sea. "It wasn't done on purpose," said John Negroponte, a co-chairperson of the US-Philippines Society, during a meeting in Makati.

Negroponte also said that it was "up to the US to confront the issue," which involves the grounding of the USS Guardian on the reef, considered a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO for being one of the last richest marine biodiversity places on the planet.

The British-born diplomat, who co-chairs the US-Philippines Society with TV5 chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, delivered remarks regarding US foreign policy on the second term of US President Barack Obama.

"The US is very carefully balancing [its relationship] with China vis-a-vis other alliances and friendships in Asia," Negroponte said during the event at the Tower Club, a joint meeting of the Asia Society, the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation, and the American and European business chambers. "The Obama administration has also reaffirmed alliances with Asian countries such as South Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines."

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/53302/an-embarrassing-incident-us-diplomat-says-of-american-ship-stuck-on-tubbataha-reef