By IOL South East Asia Correspondent, Kazi Mahmood
MANILLA, April 9 (IslamOnline) - The United States is targeting China implicitly as a security threat in the region, a report published by the Straits Times of Singapore said on Tuesday.

Citing reports from Kyodo news agency and the Philippine Inquirer, the Singapore paper said the U.S. reportedly asked the Philippines to expand its Balikatan military exercise this month to include four Korean and two Japanese C-130 planes, to provide airlift support for American troops and equipment.

Washington also sought to include this exercise into the broader Team Challenge that links several multinational war games in the region, according to the Kyodo news agency and the Philippine Inquirer.
Philippine National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said this U.S. proposal was a possibility as it would promote regional harmony.

The exercise would not be targeted against any particular country, he said. But privately, another official told the Philippine Inquirer that it is a counterfoil to the supposed threat posed by China in the region.
This involves invasion scenarios with China in the aggressor role, he noted.

The Straits Times also wrote that in the same vein, Stratfor, a Texas-based global intelligence firm, said: 'Washington's proposal demonstrates that, despite the war against terrorism, the U.S. military has not lost sight of longer-term potential challenges to U.S. security - in this case, China.'

The U.S. also requested inviting a 10-nation team of observers for the April 22 to May 6 exercise - these are Singapore, Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia and Thailand. 
Notable among these nations are Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and Mongolia, which the U.S. is apparently involving to fortify a security net around China.

Tying this in with the recent U.S. deployments in Central Asia and closer U.S.-Russian ties, China is surrounded completely, Stratfor said.
The U.S. has sent more than 600 troops and special forces to the Philippines to help the local military fight the kidnap gang Abu Sayyaf.
The U.S. promised it will follow through its training of Philippine forces beyond its current six-month assistance to incapacitate the Abu Sayyaf. 

The number of troops and the level of assistance have not been decided, but it will be of a long-term nature so that Philippine capabilities will be built up.

Last week the U.S. asked for permission to send another 600 troops, much to the displeasure of locals, particularly Muslims in Mindanao. They view such troops as a threat to the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.

China has also been accused of assisting both the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

A news report a month ago blamed China for the capabilities of the MILF to garner financial support and to procure the latest in guerilla equipment.

The report published by the Manila Times said the Philippines intelligence uncovered a system whereby the Chinese authorities would channel money to the Muslim rebels via cultural and other missions to the Philippines.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila vehemently denied the information calling it an attempt to enlist China in the ongoing war games and the separatist movement in Mindanao.

However, rebel sources did not deny that China eventually assisted them in their struggle, except to the MILF which said clearly that it did not get help from the communist country.