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Ex-admiral: US should defend reef off Philippines
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Locations of disputed places in South China Sea. (Straits Times Graphics/-)
A
former commander of US forces in the Pacific says the US should be willing to use military force to oppose Chinese aggression at a disputed reef off the coast of the Philippines.
Dennis Blair has made the recommendation to a Senate panel Wednesday, a day after an international tribunal invalidated the legal basis of Beijing's expansive claims in the South China Sea.
Blair says the objective is not to pick a fight with China at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, but to set a limit on its military coercion.
The Philippines is a US ally but their treaty is ambiguous about whether the US would come to its defense in disputed territory.
A 2012 standoff at Scarborough Shoal between China and the Philippines prompted Manila to launch the arbitration case.
