Southeast Asia
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s offer to eliminate the military installation in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, if the United States agrees to dismantle the U.S. bases it operates in the Philippines is a step in a positive direction in shaping a neutral future for Southeast Asia (Part I, Sept. 17). The world economy is shifting towards the region, and a continued military buildup in the area will only increase the tensions which abound there and around the world.
The U.S. government should view this offer as an extension of the “historic arms agreement” of 1987. Philippine President Corazon Aquino need not leave the decision up to the U.S. on the future of the U.S. bases in the Philippines, for she is the leader of the country and shouldn’t rely on U.S. decisions to decide the future of the Philippines.
J. BAUTISTA VIRATA
Westminster
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