A new security treaty between the US and the Philippines to be signed Monday isn’t aimed at containing China’s military might, but is rather ensuring stability in the Asia-Pacific region, American officials said.
The Enhanced Defense Cooperation agreement would permit the
enhanced “rotational presence” of US forces in the Philippines.
The American military will also be able to train and conduct
exercises with their Philippine counterparts for maritime
security, disaster assistance and humanitarian aid.
It would also allow US troops, aircraft and ships to pass through
the Philippines and see the creation of storages facilities for
American equipment.
“We are not doing this because of China. We are doing this
because we have a longstanding alliance partner [the
Philippines]. They are interested in stepping up our
military-to-military,” Evan Medeiros, Obama’s top advisor on
Asia, was cited as saying by AFP.
Filipino negotiators previously said that the deal wouldn’t allow
the US to establish military bases in the country, or position
nuclear weapons there.
But Medeiros still called the document “the most significant
agreement that we [the US] have concluded with the Philippines in
decades.”
The treaty runs for 10 years, which is shorter than Washington
was originally asking for, but it can be prolonged if both sides
see it necessary, two senior US officials told Reuters.
Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US ambassador
Philip Goldberg will put their signatures under the deal on April
28, just a few hours before President Barack Obama arrives to the
Philippine capital, Manila, as part of his week-long Asian tour.
The United States is expected to gradually deploy combat ships, a
squadron of F18s or F16s and maritime surveillance aircraft to
the Philippines under the deal, a military source told Reuters.
“We are considering bases in Northern Luzon like Clark and
Subic, and Fort Magsaysay, to accommodate the US forces. We will
set aside space in those bases for their troops," the source
said.
Clark and Subic were the two military bases maintained by the US
military northwest of Manila until 1992, when the Philippines
Senate voted to evict American troops from the country.
However, eight years later, the Senate approved an agreement
allowing for temporary visits by US forces and joint military
drills between the armies of the two states.
A total of 149 US Navy vessels visited the Philippines last year
– almost a two-fold increase in comparison with 68 ships in 2012.
Manila has been seeking greater military and diplomatic support
from the US in recent years, due to a territorial dispute with
China.
Beijing, which claims most of the resources-rich South China Sea,
has seized control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012 despite the
island being situated far closer to the Filipino landmass than
the Chinese.
The Chinese refused to participate in the UN tribunal on the
validity of its territorial claims, which the Philippines
imitated, saying that the move “seriously damaged” bilateral
relations.
In March, Chinese vessels tried to block ships, which were
bringing supplies to a Philippine military outpost on a tiny reef
also claimed by Beijing.