RP parts ways with U.S. as it turns to Asia

RP parts ways with U.S. as it turns to Asia

By Cecil Morella

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines is parting ways with the United States as this former American colony positions itself with an Asian-oriented foreign policy, the better to share in the windfall of the region's economic boom, analysts say.

Three years after the Philippine Senate booted out a large U.S. military presence in major bases here, Manila now finds itself opposed to its former ally on issues as diverse as trade, North Korea, China, Burma, and human rights.

With verbal missiles at U.S. policies in Asia flying thick, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte met Foreign Secretary Roberto Romulo here this week to explain Washington's position, but failed to reconcile the two sides' differences.

"We need to reorient our policies to support our long-term interests," said Noel Morada, a board member of the Manila-based Institute for Strategic and Development Studies (ISDS). He said the "logical trend" would be to look toward Asia rather than the West.

Romulo fired off the initial salvo last month, criticizing Washington's "overzealousness" in tying trade with China to its human rights record, a position which he said could harm efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Korean impasse.

The Philippines has also vowed to resist U.S. attempts to insert a "social clause," such as protection of workers' rights, into any trade agreement. Foreign Undersecretary Rodolfo Severino describes the issue as a "disguised non-tariff barrier."

On the North Korean nuclear inspection issue, Romulo is taking the side of other Asian nations which endorse continued dialog, saying that "the American penchant for immediate gratification has no place in a foreign policy concerned with such a sensitive issue."

"The Philippines is part of the East Asian region," Morada said. "Political instability will affect the economic stability of the area."

The Philippines lost the U.S. military umbrella after American servicemen completed their pullout from Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Base in November 1992.

Stability is now the focus of Manila's diplomacy regarding the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, after unsuccessfully seeking to commit Washington to support the Philippine stake over part of the chain, which is also claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

In concert with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, the Philippines has also sought to bring Myanmar into the ambit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), defying the U.S. call for Myanmar's diplomatic isolation over its human rights record.

Morada said the fact was Manila's views sometimes coincided with those of Washington, and not always with ASEAN. But being a small country, "it would need the support of other countries to express its own interests" in international fora, a platform offered by ASEAN, he added.

The United States remains the Philippines' largest trading partner with annual two-way trade totaling nearly eight billion dollars. Morada said it was unlikely that Washington would withdraw Manila's preferential trading status on the basis of disagreements over foreign policy.

The two governments themselves seek to downplay the discord. "I don't think we're phrasing it that way," said Frank Jenista, a first secretary of the U.S. mission here. He said the two sides met regularly "to make sure we understand each other's position."

Undersecretary Severino said the two allies were taking "slightly different approaches" on regional issues, but adds they should be taken in the context of differing interests of a developed and a developing nation.