China Asserts Sea Claims, the US Pledges $500 Million in New Military Assistance to the Philippines
In light of the hostile acts of Chinese ships in the South China Sea that the Philippine military is having to deal with, the Biden administration on Tuesday announced an additional $500 million in military aid to the Philippines. This announcement further strengthens the defense partnership between the two countries.
Since Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. assumed office as president of the Philippines two years ago, the governments of the United States and the Philippines have strengthened their military partnership. In contrast to his predecessor, who advocated for closer relations with China, Mr. Marcos has strengthened his bonds with the US.
Having lived in Hawaii during his family’s political exile and having had one-on-one meetings with President Biden ever since he assumed office, Mr. Marcos hosted the highest ranking military and diplomatic representatives of both countries in Manila on Tuesday. It was the first time that the allied countries had held a so-called 2+2 meeting in the Philippines.
Building alliances has been a defining feature of Mr. Biden’s foreign policy, particularly in Europe and Asia, where various coalitions are intended to thwart or discourage military action by Russia and China, two nuclear-armed giants that are allies. On a diplomatic visit to the Indo-Pacific region, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III arrived in Manila on Monday night.
The discussions took place against a tense backdrop: not only have Chinese coast guard ships engaged in more aggressive behavior against Philippine naval ships in the South China Sea in recent months, but Mr. Marcos and other Asian leaders are curious about who will succeed Mr. Biden as the US president in January. Who would argue that US military alliances are a waste of money—former president Donald J. Trump or current vice president Kamala Harris, the anticipated Democratic nominee?
Mr. Marcos informed Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin about the details of their Tuesday morning visit to the presidential residence.
“I’m glad you found the time to come and visit with us, but I am a little surprised by how interesting your political situation has become back in the States,” Mr. Marcos remarked.
Ms. Harris was specifically mentioned by Mr. Blinken in his speech, who stated that he had brought “greetings from President Biden and Vice President Harris along with Secretary Austin.”
During a press conference held in the afternoon at Camp Aguinaldo, the Philippine military headquarters, Mr. Blinken announced the $500 million in extra military aid, stating that it would be utilized to support the modernization of the Philippine coast guard and military alongside Mr. Austin.
According to Mr. Austin, “the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. Congress, and the American people clearly support the Philippines with this level of funding, which is unprecedented.”
The first significant boost to the U.S.-Philippine alliance during the Biden and Marcos administrations came in February 2023 when the governments announced that the Philippines had allowed the United States access to four new military bases during a visit by Mr. Austin to Manila. Those closest to Taiwan are the furthest north. Although the agreement permits humanitarian use of the bases, officials in Manila and Washington may determine that the U.S. military may use the bases for combat assistance in the event of a war, such as a Chinese effort to invade Taiwan.
Gilbert Teodoro, the defense minister of the Philippines, stated during the press conference on Tuesday that his nation was eager to improve coordination on certain military installations.
The Philippines and China are at their most heated when it comes to the South China Sea. Chinese coast guard ships attempted for months to prevent Philippine naval ships from supplying marines stationed at the Sierra Madre, a grounded ship on the underwater reef known as Second Thomas Shoal, with supplies. China and the Philippines both assert territorial claims over the region. Chinese coast guard ships have fired water cannons and rammed Philippine ships. In one instance, the collision of two ships severed a Philippine sailor’s thumb.
During the press conference, Mr. Austin emphasized that acts taken against the military of the United States and the Philippines in the South China Sea are covered by the mutual defense provision of the treaty.
China agreed to permit the Philippine navy to conduct replenishment missions to the Sierra Madre as part of an agreement the two countries reached last week. Although there have been some doubts about whether the two governments’ interpretations of the agreement differ, Chinese vessels did not interfere with the Philippines’ ability to conduct a resupply mission to the grounded ship on Saturday.
At a meeting with Wang Yi, China’s top foreign policy official, on Saturday in Vientiane, Laos, Mr. Blinken reported that he informed Mr. Wang that China needed to desist from confrontations with the Philippines in the South China Sea.
Mr. Blinken, Mr. Austin, and their aides have coordinated with their international colleagues to send out strong comments opposing China’s aggressive territorial moves during their visits in Tokyo and Manila.
Mr. Blinken and three foreign ministers from the United States, Japan, India, and Australia—the so-called Quad countries that have a nonmilitary partnership—issued a joint statement in Tokyo on Monday that included a denunciation of military aggressiveness in the South and East China Seas, among other things. The ministers made a similar speech in New Delhi last year, and while this one did not mention China specifically, it was obvious that they were talking about that nation.
In their most recent Quad statement, the four top diplomats expressed their “strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion” and expressed their “serious concern about the situation in the East and South China Seas.”
The militarization of disputed features and forceful and intimidating actions in the South China Sea, they stated, “continue to express our serious concern.” “We also express our serious concern about attempts to disrupt offshore resource exploitation activities of other countries, the increasing use of various kinds of dangerous maneuvers, and the dangerous use of Coast Guard and Maritime Militia vessels.”
In their most recent Quad statement, the four top diplomats expressed their “strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion” and expressed their “serious concern about the situation in the East and South China Seas.”
The militarization of disputed features and forceful and intimidating actions in the South China Sea, they stated, “continue to express our serious concern.” “We also express our serious concern about attempts to disrupt offshore resource exploitation activities of other countries, the increasing use of various kinds of dangerous maneuvers, and the dangerous use of Coast Guard and Maritime Militia vessels.”
Similar to New Delhi in 2023, the message was not as powerful as it could have been because China was not mentioned. As a counterweight to China, some Asian nations seek a strong U.S. military, diplomatic, and economic presence in the region. However, they also wish to avoid stirring up trouble with China, which is rapidly bolstering its armed forces, particularly its navy, despite being the region’s largest trading partner.
One instance of how the Biden administration revitalized a dormant multilateral collaboration is the Quad. Additionally, the administration has established new trilateral military partnership latticeworks. It has accomplished this with South Korea and Japan as well as Japan and the Philippines. When Mr. Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid Mr. Biden a visit at the White House in April, officials made the latter announcement.
On Sunday, the first day of their tour to Japan, Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin also met with their Japanese counterparts to discuss extended deterrence, which is the term used to describe the deterrence protection that the United States’ nuclear umbrella offers to non-nuclear-armed countries. The fact that a session on extended deterrence was being held in lieu of the usual 2+2 meeting was unprecedented and highlighted the mounting concerns about potential military war in the Asia-Pacific area.
On his way to the airport for his flight to Singapore, Mr. Blinken dropped by the artisanal chocolate shop Auro after the press conference at Camp Aguinaldo. On his eighteenth journey to the Indo-Pacific region, Mr. Blinken is stopping in six countries. He sipped from a cup of mocha and tasted chocolate and pandesal, a Filipino bread filled with ube, a purple yam paste. The owner, Mark Ocampo, gave him a gift basket of chocolates as he left this last visit in Manila.
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