The Philippines granted the United States expanded access to its military bases on Thursday.
The defense ministries of both countries announced Washington would be granted access to four more regions under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
The agreement was reached during a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who visited South Korea earlier this year to bolster deployment of advanced weapons such as fighter jets and bombers to the Korean Peninsula, also to deploy more military forces and weapons in the Philippines.
In a joint announcement, the Philippines and the United States agreed to accelerate the full implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which aims to support combined training, exercises, and interoperability between the two countries.
As part of the agreement, the United States has allocated $82 million for infrastructure improvements at five existing EDCA sites and has expanded its military presence to four new regions in “strategic areas of the country,” according to the statement.
New bases target China
The statement did not specify where the new areas would be. The former Philippine military chief told Reuters that the United States had previously requested access to bases on the island of Palawan, which overlooks the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and the northern land mass of Luzon, the Philippines’ closest region to Taiwan.
Philippine military officials and defense experts said some government officials were concerned that news about these locations would anger China.
According to an analysis published in the Global Times, Luzon and Palawan are very close to the Taiwanese island of Nansha, respectively, and “the intention of targeting China could not be more obvious.”
More recently, U.S. forces have intensified and expanded joint training focusing on combat readiness and disaster response with Filipino troops on the nation’s west coast, which faces the South China Sea, and in its northern Luzon region.
Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA)
The EDCA allows U.S. access to Philippine military bases for joint training, pre-positioning of equipment and the building of facilities such as runways, fuel storage and military housing, but not for a permanent presence.
Austin said: “This is not about permanent basing, but it is a big deal, it is a really big deal… This is an opportunity to increase our effectiveness, increase interoperability.”
The Philippines was home to two largest U.S. Navy and Air Force bases outside of the American mainland. However, after the Philippine Senate refused to extend the use of the bases, they were closed in the early 1990s.
Although American forces returned for large-scale combat exercises with Filipino troops under a 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement, they could not obtain a base. The Philippine Constitution forbids the permanent establishment of foreign troops and their involvement in local combat.
The 2014 EDCA allowed U.S. forces to pre-position equipment and return forces in Philippine military bases, but Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, had suspended the practice to maintain closer ties with China.
After Marcos was elected president, Joe Biden was the first foreign leader to call to congratulate Marcos, and senior Washington officials visited the Philippines regularly.
Manila’s balance policy
Washington is keen to expand its security options in the Philippines against China, while Manila aims to strengthen its defenses against disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea and a possible escalation in the Taiwan Strait.
A senior White House official told the Financial Times the initiative was “part of their strategic efforts across the region,” stressing that it was very important to Biden.
The Philippines sees the United States as a crucial counterweight to China in the region, and Washington has pledged to come to the defense of the Philippines if Filipino forces, ships, or aircraft come under attack in the contested waters.
On the other hand, the Philippines is trying to pursue a policy of not taking sides between China, its largest trading partner, and the United States. Philippine President Marcos’ visit to China last month was an indication that Manila is seeking to maintain ties with Beijing. Marcos also reiterated his commitment to the “one China” policy in a recent private interview with the Financial Times.
That’s why Philippine officials insisted ahead of Austin’s visit that military cooperation with the United States “does not target any third party.”
The Philippines is critical to Washington
However, the revival of the defense relationship with Washington by Philippine President Marcos could change this balance policy. The U.S. is using the same stick on the Philippines that it uses on the Asia-Pacific countries – the “China threat”.
The Biden administration is pushing the idea that if Beijing challenges the Philippines’ control over the disputed islands in the South China Sea or attacks Taiwan, the Philippines will be at risk of becoming part of the battlefield.
In this context, Austin said during the visit that the United States and the Philippines are “committed to strengthening their mutual capacities to resist armed attack” and stressed that these defensive efforts are important against China’s influence on the South China Sea.
Lisa Curtis, an Indo-Pacific expert at the Washington-based CNAS think tank, also stressed that the Philippines’ position is critical to the entire U.S. alliance system in the Indo-Pacific. In the event of a dispute over Taiwan, Washington would certainly see Manila as a staging ground for logistical support and U.S. forces, Curtis said.
Meanwhile, the Philippine president is reportedly traveling to Japan next week to expand security and trade cooperation between Manila and Tokyo.
Beijing has voiced concerns about Marcos’ visit to Japan, according to two people familiar with the discussions, highlighting the challenge the Philippines faces in trying to balance its economic interests with China and its relations with the United States and its allies.
The extent to which the Philippines can successfully maintain the balance policy in the face of the attack attempt that the U.S. and NATO have pursued so far in the Asia-Pacific through the “Chinese threat” discourse remains a question.
