The Philippines has offered the United States wider access to its military sites, the two countries said on Thursday, amid rising tensions over China’s escalating aggressiveness in the disputed South China Sea and tensions over self-ruled Taiwan.
According to announcements from the defense ministries of both nations, Washington will be granted access to four more locations under an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed in 2014.
“The US-Philippines alliance has endured time and is still unbreakable. We anticipate the chances these new sites will present to increase our cooperation, ” The declarations said.
In accordance with the EDCA, the US has already declared that it would be investing more than $82 million in infrastructure improvements at the existing five locations.
The EDCA grants the US access to Philippine military bases for joint training, equipment prepositioning, and infrastructure construction, including runways, fuel storage, and military housing, but not for a long-term presence.
To increase its security options in the Philippines and thwart any Chinese aggression against Taiwan, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Manila for discussions.
The new locations were not mentioned in the statements. According to the previous head of the Philippine military, the United States had asked for access to bases on the island of Palawan, which faces the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, as well as on the northern land mass of Luzon, the region of the Philippines that is most near Taiwan.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Prior to his meeting with Carlito Galvez, Austin met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the presidential palace. He assured the Southeast Asian leader that “we stand ready to aid you in every way we can.”
