While negotiations are still ongoing, an announcement is expected this week when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets his counterpart in Manila and then President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The expansion would include the acquisition of Philippine military bases, possibly including two on the northern island of Luzon – which analysts say could give US forces a strategic position from which to operate in the event of a conflict in Taiwan or the South China Sea. They facilitate cooperation on a range of security issues, including rapid response to natural disasters and climate-related events.
In the past few months in the Philippines, extensive work has been done to evaluate and evaluate various sites, and at least two have been installed, according to other officials, a State Department official who asked not to be named. He was not authorized to speak about the discussions.
A Philippine defense official said an agreement on additional sites has been “more or less” made, but will be formalized when the two defense secretaries meet. They were the assistants of the two offices. He continued to release key details in recent days and said at least two of the new sites will be located in Luzon.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the matter with his counterpart Eduardo Año at the White House earlier this month to strengthen cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners, a US official said.
Increased military cooperation with the United States is “good for our defense posture,” a Philippine official said. But he emphasized that the Philippines’ efforts to strengthen its security are “not targeting any country.”
Marcos “understands the dynamics of the region right now and the Philippines really needs to step up,” the official said, adding that the president will closely monitor developments in the Taiwan Strait and the West Philippine Sea. “We have already received attacks from several countries and the tension is expected to increase.”
Gregory Poling, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that while expanded base access is not the only issue for the region’s security, it is “a much bigger issue.” “This is significant, not just what it means for an emergency in Taiwan or the South China Sea. This is a sign that the Philippines is modernizing the alliance, and that they understand that a modern alliance means they are also responsible.
The Philippines, once a US territory, has been a treaty partner since 1951. It has hosted the largest US presence since World War II, including two of the largest US military installations – an arrangement that ended in 1991 when the Philippine Senate concluded that the country’s sovereignty was being violated, forcing the Americans to withdraw all US bases in the Philippines.
The joint defense arrangement was arguably the most pro- and anti-American president in the Philippines under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte has threatened to end the Visiting Forces Agreement, which gives legal protection to US troops in the Philippines. But Austin After his visit in the summer of 2021 and increasing Chinese aggression in Philippine waters, Duterte dropped his threat.
Marcos’ popularity continued to rise last year – President Biden was the first foreign leader to call to congratulate him. But officials say the depth of cooperation has made the region a more dangerous place. For example, in November, China’s coast guard seized the wreckage of a Chinese rocket being towed by the Philippine Navy near Philippine-controlled islands. In December, Chinese militia ships were seen drifting in the West Philippine Sea. And just last week, Chinese ships chased away Filipino fishermen from one of the reefs where the Philippines has exclusive fishing rights.
China is the Philippines’ largest trading partner and the Marcos family has historic ties to China: Marcos visited China in 1974 with his father. They met current President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his mother Imelda Marcos and Chairman Mao Zedong. However, Marcos made it clear that he was concerned about the gathering. Asked at the Davos Economic Forum in January if the South China Sea issue kept him up at night, he said: “It keeps you up at night. It will keep you going during the day. He will wait for you most of the time.”
He also pointed out that the islands at the northernmost tip of the Philippines are only 200 miles from Taiwan, making it an ideal place for refugees to flee, “in terms of cross-border tensions, we are at the forefront.” Conflict.
Marcos said that “the more these tensions increase” with Chinese and American ships, “we are watching as spectators” and if something goes wrong, “we will suffer.”
However, he said the relationship between the United States and the Philippines “remains strong” and the only way to remain strong and relevant is through “evolution.”
Marcos said, “We have a security arrangement with the United States, and this has come to the fore… because of the rising tensions in our part of the world.
Marcos traveled to Beijing in early January to raise concerns over the South China Sea. These include the Chinese Navy and Coast Guard banning Filipino fishermen from their traditional fishing grounds as well as the construction of artificial islands in Philippine waters. Although he has come up with more than a dozen agreements covering tourism, trade and e-commerce, his comments at Davos later in the month make it clear that the security issue dominates.
“The world has changed. We now live in the context of all of these, especially other forces emerging around the region in the South China Sea.
The United States is to have four air bases and one military base in the Philippines under a 2014 revised defense cooperation agreement. EDCA authorizes the movement of US troops in agreed areas. None of the five bases are located in the northern part of Luzon.
In November, Vice President Harris became the top official to visit the Philippine territory of Palawan, a thin but roughly 200-mile-long island off the South China Sea. During her visit, a senior management official said the two partners had identified new areas to “further enhance our work”.
That work would combine security cooperation exercises, training activities and allow the United States to quickly respond to natural disasters with humanitarian assistance, the official said. EDCA provides economic benefits, the official said, with the United States investing more than $82 million in infrastructure, with most of the contracts for the projects going to Philippine companies.
The anticipated expansion of ADCA follows an announcement earlier this month that the US Marine Corps will revamp the unit in Okinawa to better fight off the harsh, remote islands by 2025. Advanced capabilities such as anti-ship missiles that could be fired at Chinese ships during the Taiwan conflict.
For more than a decade, the Pentagon has been trying to disperse its presence across island chains in the western Pacific to make it harder for China to focus its attacks on US military bases. But that would help countries like the Philippines avoid paying China to attack Taiwan or Japan through their islands, said Michael J.
“The Philippines is not necessarily signing up to US war plans,” said Green, who handled Asian affairs at the White House under President George W. Bush. But it’s a big move that’s encouraging for the United States and allies like Japan, and illustrates the costs of coercion for China.