‘I have two hands’

Last Monday, I had the distinct privilege to meet and have brief talks with Admiral Harry Harris Jr., commander of the United States Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He arrived Sunday night in Manila where he held official talks with senior military officials here led by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista and Navy chief Vice Adm. Jose Luis Alano.

During his overnight visit here, Adm. Harris was awarded by the Philippine Navy with Military Civic Action Medal for his meritorious achievement during the conduct of immediate response and relief operations for the victims of super typhoon “Yolanda” that struck Eastern Visayas on Nov. 8 last year.

As commander of Pacific Fleet, Adm. Harris was recognized for his effective and efficient exercise of command and control over the US Navy vessels and assets throughout the duration of their operations in the waters of the provinces of Samar and Leyte. This was just a few weeks after he was installed in his command in October last year.  

The US Pacific Fleet boasts of having more than 60 percent of the total US naval forces and assets and 106 of these are warships under the command of Adm.Harris. Currently, he disclosed, the US is “re-balancing” its forces under the so-called “pivot” in Asia, with the Philippines, Japan, South Korea among the countries within its coverage.

He announced the holding in July this year of the Rim in Pacific (RIMPAC) where China, the Philippines, Brunei and 20 other countries will be participating in the world’s biggest naval exercises in Hawaii. For the first time, he said, China accepted their invitation “because we want to work together with them.”

While here in Manila for a short visit, Adm. Harris presumably conducted talks also about the “enhance defense cooperation” agreement that will give US forces access to military facilities in the Philippines, including its former bases in Subic and Clark. By way of anecdote, Harris met his wife in 1985 in Subic where she was posted as an American naval nurse.

Before his official meetings, Adm. Harris accepted a brief sit-down interview with The STAR at the US Embassy in Manila. In the course of our interview, the commander who calls the shots for more than half of America’s naval forces stationed in this part of the world reiterated the US commitments under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the Philippines.

Even after the abrogation and closure of American military bases here in our country since 1991, Adm.Harris could not stress more the importance of the Philippines in the task of the US to keep stability and security in the region.

“I would like to forcefully underscore, highlight, emphasize that we take our obligations under the Mutual Defense Treaty very seriously and we will live up to those obligations,” Adm. Harris declared. But Adm.Harris turned to usual cliché among American military top brass when I pressed him whether the US would be ready to fight alongside their MDT partner should China decide to seize areas that belong to the Philippines under international laws. ”I’m not going into hypothetical. I will just simply state again that we understand our obligations under Mutual Defense Treaty and we will live up to those obligations,” he swore.

Little did I know that same early morning, the AFP chief of staff along with US Ambassador Philip Goldberg were the guests in the breakfast forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at the Mandarin Hotel in Makati City. At that forum, Gen. Bautista revealed a Chinese Coast Guard used water cannons against Filipino fishermen in the disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

The incident happened last January 27 and was only recently reported to authorities by the Filipino fishermen who were driven away from Panatag Shoal, an area within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The AFP tried to downplay the incident and described it as nothing that would require military action to similarly drive away the bullies from the disputed territorial waters in West Philippine Sea.

 Showing diplomatic training honed in the course of his assignment at the US State Department, Adm. Harris sought to tone down the tension in South China Sea, citing the ongoing efforts by the American government to engage China to help in keeping the peace in the region.

As far as Adm. Harris sees it, the US government as continued by the administration of President Barack Obama, is “not trying to create a new cold war with China” in the manner done to Russia by previous American administrations.

The commander of the US Pacific Fleet lauded the Philippine government under President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III has been doing its share to keep China’s behavior in check. He especially recognized the Philippine government efforts to exhaust all diplomatic and peaceful means to resolve the overlapping claims. He obliquely referred to the Philippine initiative to bring to international arbitration the South China Sea conflict but which Beijing refuses to recognize.

On the part of the US, Adm. Harris cited the military-to-military visits and meetings between top brass of the Pacific Command and their Chinese counterparts. The most recent involved US Army chief of staff Gen.Raymond Odierno who met with Lt.Gen. Wang Ning a few days ago in Beijing.

“I think it is optimistic signal. What we’re trying to do is to be honest with all of our friends and allies. And we are trying to be honest with China and that’s one hand,” he pointed out. Adm. Harris though admitted the US government and he himself as Commander of the US Pacific Fleet view with concern the lack of transparency of China in the military sense, especially with its recent unilateral decision to impose the controversial Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

“On the other hand, we want to have a strong and positive relationship with China,” he pointed out. Noticing his repeated choice of words, he wisecracked: “It’s a good thing that I have only two hands!”

Had I known about the latest incident in Panatag Shoal before this interview, I would have a good rebuttal to his “I have two-hands joke.” Will the US commitment under the MDT to help defend the Philippines in any armed attack hold water in this water cannon incident?