Obama: China must stop land reclamation in South China Sea

From GMA News (Nov 18): Obama: China must stop land reclamation in South China Sea

US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday China must stop land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea and reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the defense and security of the Philippines, one of the parties to the dispute.

Obama, speaking after a meeting with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Manila, said he looked forward to working with all claimants to the waterway to resolve their disputes.

On Tuesday, Obama visited an American-donated coast guard cutter now owned by the Philippines, one its closest allies in the region.

In the same briefing, Aquino said that he agreed with Obama that laws on the freedom of navigation at sea should be upheld, a reference to the dispute with China over claims to the South China Sea.

Obama said also assured that the US has a “rock solid commitment to the defense of the Philippines” as the validity of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) hangs before the Supreme Court (SC).

“With respect to Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, obviously, the Philippines has to go through its process in the Supreme Court review. But we are confident that it is going to get done and we are going to be able to implement effectively the provisions and the ideas that have come forward during the course of these discussions,” said Obama.

The SC has deferred at least twice its ruling on the petitions questioning the Philippines’ EDCA with the US.

Under EDCA, the US will be allowed to build structures, store as well as preposition weapons, defense supplies and materiel, station troops, civilian personnel and defense contractors, transit and station vehicles, vessels, and aircraft for a period of 10 years.

“The broader point is that, as a treaty ally, we have a rock solid commitment to the defense of the Philippines," said Obama. "

And part of our goal is to continue to help our treaty partners build up capacity, to make sure that the architecture of both defense work, but also humanitarian work, and other important activities in the region are coordinated more effectively, and we think that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement is going to help us do that,” he added.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/544821/news/nation/obama-china-must-stop-land-reclamation-in-south-china-sea