U.S. military forces will be given access to four new military bases in the islands, solidifying a months-long American effort to expand its footprint across the Pacific region to counter threats from China.
The new access agreement, sealed during a visit here by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, will add to the five bases already used for training, pre-positioning of equipment, use of runway and other facilities under a 2014 defense cooperation agreement.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., greeting Austin before they met at the Malacanang Palace on Thursday morning, did not mention China directly. But he spoke of a “terribly complex situation, something we can only navigate properly with help from our partners and allies.”“The United States has always been our longest partner and ally,” Marcos said.
Austin replied that “my goal, and it’s certainly President Biden’s goal, is to strengthen the relationship in every way possible.”The addition of the new bases “will allow more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines, and respond to other shared challenges,” the Pentagon said in a statement accompanying the signing.
The United States has allocated more than $82 million toward infrastructure investment at the existing five bases, the statement said. Austin is spending two days in the Philippines as part of a Pacific swing aimed at expanding Washington’s Indo-Pacific alliances and partnerships as China has increased its provocations in the region, including with air-to-air intercepts and maritime challenges.
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