U.S. boosts military role in Philippines amid fear of future Taiwan conflict
The United States is increasing its military pres- ence in the Philippines, both countries announced on Thursday, adding American access to four more bases and asserting the Southeast Asian nation’s role as a key strategic partner for Wash- ington in the event of a con- flict with China over Taiwan.
The agreement was announced as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III was in the Philippines, on a trip that began Tuesday. The deal would allow Wash- ington to position military equipment and rotate its troops into a total of nine military bases controlled by the Philippines.
The agreement comes amid growing fears in the region over a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the island democracy China claims as its territory. Among the five treaty allies that the United States has in Asia, the
Philippines is geographically closest to Taiwan, with its northernmost land mass of Luzon just 124 miles away. American officials say that getting access to the Philippines’ northernmost islands is crucial to countering China in an attack on Taiwan.
Three decades ago, the U.S. presence in the Philippines was a sore point among many Filipinos. The military bases maintained by the Americans for nearly a century were seen to be a vestige of American colonialism. In 1992, the United States had to shut down its last base in the Philippines after street protests and a decision by the Philippine Senate to discontinue the American military presence.
But the calculus has largely shifted because of growing Chinese aggression in the region. The Philippines, which has a substantially smaller navy than China, wants American support to ward off Beijing’s incursions in the South China Sea. Manila and Beijing have been locked in a long-running dis
pute over waters both sides claim as their own.