US deploys 1K Marines in storm-ravaged isles; China should send warships to RP — state media

From the Daily Tribune (Nov 16): US deploys 1K Marines in storm-ravaged isles; China should send warships to RP — state media

In Washington, the US military said Thursday it was deploying 1,000 Marines to support emergency relief operations in the Philippines following super typhoon “Haiyan” (“Yolanda”).

About 900 troops will board two US Navy amphibious ships — the Japan-based USS Germantown and USS Ashland — and are due in the Philippines in about six days, Marine Forces Pacific said in a statement.

An additional 100 Marines from the same unit will travel to the region by aircraft.

The ships were set to bring heavy engineering equipment — including backhoes, dump trucks and wreckers — amphibious assault vehicles, a tracked vehicle that can operate in the water and on land, generators and “water bull” portable water tanks.

Up to eight MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft were also set to fly to Manila’s international airport in the coming days, doubling the number of Ospreys available in the area.

The Marines, who will assist with road clearance and relief supply distribution, will travel by landing craft utility boats, landing craft air cushion vehicles, assault amphibious vehicles, small boats and rotary wing aircraft.

The announcement came hours after the USS George Washington arrived in the Philippines with 5,000 sailors aboard, bearing badly needed equipment, supplies and expertise for the thousands left homeless and hungry by one of the strongest storms in history.

It is one of eight American ships currently in the region as part of “Operation Damayan” — Tagalog for “solidarity.”

US President Barack Obama, meanwhile, urged Americans to donate generously to their former Asian colony.

In Beijing meanwhile, Chinese state media said China should send warships to the Philippines as part of the typhoon disaster relief effort to counter US and Japanese influence, state-run media said Friday.

Beijing and Manila are embroiled in a row over disputed islands, but if the Philippines rejected the warships proposal, that would only “underscore its narrow mind and will be of no loss to China”, the Global Times said in an editorial.

An eight-strong flotilla of US vessels, headed by the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, arrived off the Philippines Thursday bearing badly needed equipment, supplies and expertise for the thousands left homeless and hungry by one of the strongest storms in history.

Tokyo is tripling its emergency aid package for the Philippines to more than $30 million, and plans to send as many as 1,000 troops to the disaster zone — the largest single relief operation team sent abroad by its de-facto military.

“We believe China should send its warships to the Philippines too,” said the Global Times, which is close to the Communist Party, adding such a move would be “well-intentioned”.

The dispute over islands in the strategically vital South China Sea — which Beijing claims almost in its entirety — has been running for years.

Manila says Chinese vessels have occupied Scarborough Shoal, which it claims itself, since last year, and it is open to question whether it would welcome a Chinese navy presence in its waters.

The US and Japanese militaries’ part in the relief efforts was an element of Washington’s Asia strategy and may have “more intentions hidden behind the humanitarian aid”, the newspaper — which often strikes a nationalist tone — said in a separate report.

Beijing could send a hospital ship, the Peace Ark, escorted by warships if dispatching its newly commissioned aircraft carrier the Liaoning was “sensitive and premature”, said the editorial.

It came after China said Thursday it would provide a further $1.6 million aid to the Philippines, mainly in tents and blankets, after widespread criticism of its initial modest response of a $100,000 government donation, matched by the Chinese Red Cross.

The country was cautious about sending troops overseas in the past because of “a lack of capabilities, experience and many other concerns”, said the Global Times editorial, which was similar in both English and Chinese editions.

But now, it said: “The Chinese military must gradually assume a more forceful role in China’s diplomacy.

“There is no need for a stronger China to worry about what we should do if our offer is rejected by the Philippines or if we are criticized by global public opinion due to poor performance,” it added.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/us-deploys-1k-marines-in-storm-ravaged-isles-china-should-send-warships-to-rp-state-media