US, Philippines agree on larger American military presence
The United States and the Philippines announced an agreement on Thursday to expand America's military presence in the Southeast Asian country, with US forces granted access to four more Philippine military camps, effectively giving Washington new ground to ramp up deterrence against China.
The agreement was made public during the visit of US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, who has led efforts to strengthen America's security alliances in Asia amid China's increasing assertiveness toward Taiwan and in the South
China Sea. The allies also said in a joint statement that “substantial” progress has been made in projects at five Philippine military bases, where US military personnel were earlier granted access by Filipino officials under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement, or EDCA.
Austin thanked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whom he met in Manila, for allowing the US military to broaden its presence in the Philippines.
“I have always said that it seems to me that the future of the Philippines and for that matter the Asia-pacific will always have to involve the United States simply because those partnerships are so strong,” Marcos told Austin.
In a news conference later with his Philippine counterpart, Carlito Galvez Jr., Austin gave assurances of US military support and said the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty, which obligates the US and the Philippines to help defend one another in major conflicts, “applies to armed attacks on either of our armed forces, public vessels or aircraft anywhere in the South China Sea.” — ap