February 1, 2023
United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a news conference after a bilateral meeting with Philippines' Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at Camp Aguinaldo military camp in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, July 30, 2021. Rolex Dela Pena/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
WASHINGTON/MANILA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary
Lloyd Austin's visit to the Philippines this week is expected to bring an
announcement of expanded U.S. access to military bases in the country, a senior
Philippines official said on Wednesday.
Washington is eager to extend its security options in the
Philippines as part of efforts to deter any move by China against self-ruled
Taiwan, while Manila wants to bolster defense of its territorial claims in the
disputed South China Sea.
Austin arrived in Manila on Tuesday night, and will meet his
Philippine counterpart and other officials on Thursday "to build on our
strong bilateral relationship, discuss a range of security initiatives, and
advance our shared vision of a free and open Pacific," he said on Twitter.
On Wednesday morning, Austin visited U.S.
troops stationed at a Philippine military camp in the southern city of
Zamboanga, according to Roy Galido, commander of the Western Mindanao Command.
"Our working relationship to them is very strong,"
Galido told reporters, adding that U.S. troops help in counter terrorism, and
humanitarian and disaster response missions.
U.S. officials have said Washington hopes for an access
agreement during Austin's visit, which began on Tuesday, and that Washington
has proposed additional sites under an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement
(EDCA) dating back to 2014.
"There's a push for another four or five of these EDCA
sites," the a senior Philippines official said. "We are going to have
definitely an announcement of some sort. I just don't know how many would be
the final outcome of that."
The official declined to be named because of the sensitivity of
the matter.
Manila and Washington have a mutual defense treaty and have been
discussing U.S. access to four additional bases on the northern land mass of
Luzon, the closest part of the Philippines to Taiwan, as well as another on the
island of Palawan, facing the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
EDCA allows U.S. access to Philippine bases for joint training,
pre-positioning of equipment and building of facilities such as runways, fuel
storage and military housing, but not a permanent presence. The U.S. military
already has access to five such sites.
The Philippines official said increased U.S. access needed to
benefit both countries.
"We don't want it to be directed to just for the use of the
United States purely for their defense capabilities ... it has to be mutually
beneficial," he said.
"And obviously, we want to make sure that no country will
see ... anything that we're doing ... was directed towards any conflict or
anything of that sort," he added.
Manila's priorities in its agreements with Washington were to
boost its defense capabilities and interoperability with U.S. forces and to
improve its ability to cope with climate change and natural disasters, the
official said.
He said that after cancelling an agreement for the purchase of
heavy-lift helicopters from Russia last year, Manila had reached a deal with
Washington to upgrade "a couple" of Blackhawk helicopters that could
be used for disaster relief.
"The deal with Russia was very attractive because for a
certain budget we were able to get something like 16 of these heavy-lift
helicopters," the official said. "Now with the United States,
obviously their helicopters are more expensive, so we're looking at how we can
fit in the budget that we've had."
Gregory Poling, a Southeast Asia expert at Washington's Center
for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said access to sites in
northern Luzon would help U.S. efforts to deter any Chinese move against Taiwan
by putting the waters to the south of the island within range of shore-based
missiles.
He said the U.S. and Philippine marines were pursuing similar
capabilities with ground-based rockets, with Manila's particular interest being
to protect its South China Sea claims.
The Philippines is among several countries at odds with China in
the South China Sea and has been angered by the constant presence of vessels in
its exclusive economic zone it says are manned by Chinese militia. China is
also Manila's main trading partner.
Reporting by David Brunnstrom; additional reporting by Idrees
Ali in Washington and Neil Jerome Morales and Karen Lema in Manila; Editing by
Gerry Doyle
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/austins-manila-visit-bring-deal-expanded-base-access-philippines-official-2023-02-01/
Good business for Philippines! US will pay for lent treaty,
they will protect you, your trading rises up, you will not spend a lot of money for military...
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