Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared that the greater use of Philippine military installations by the US would not be utilized for “offensive action” against any country.
According to his statements to a Washington think tank, Marcos recently conveyed this reasoning to Chinese authorities. Furthermore, he disputed rumors that the US had asked the Philippines to provide troops in the event of a battle with China over Taiwan.
Marcos told the Center for Strategic and International Studies that the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that gives access to Philippine facilities was prompted by climate change.
“The foreign minister of China just visited with me and I told him and assured him that no, these are not intended to be military bases to attack, to move against anyone, any country, not China, not any country,” Marcos said.
He said that the use of EDCA bases for “offensive action” had not been discussed with the US and that the possibility of these sites being used as “staging areas” for offensive action against any country had never been raised by the US.
China has claimed that Marcos is “stoking the fire” of regional unrest by strengthening Manila’s relations with Washington and providing the US military access to four new installations in February.
Experts say the US is contemplating constructing a base of operations in the Philippines to repel any hypothetical Chinese amphibious attack on Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
Following a meeting between the US and Philippine military and foreign ministers last month, US military Secretary Lloyd Austin said that it was “too early” to discuss what US assets the US would want to deploy at Philippine installations.
Amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea, where Manila has competing claims to Beijing’s, as well as concerns over Taiwan and North Korea, Marcos traveled to Washington for a meeting with President Joe Biden to explain Washington’s commitment to safeguarding his nation under a 1951 security treaty.
The United States and the Philippines have been allies since 1951, and following Marcos’ visit to the Pentagon on Wednesday, the two sides issued a six-page document of “bilateral defense guidelines” outlining the scope of the United States’ commitments to the Philippines under the 1951 treaty. Vice President Joe Biden earlier said that the United States’ commitment to its ally’s defense was “ironclad,” even in the South China Sea.
Marcos said that relations between Washington and Manila had returned to a “normal road of partnership” and that they would need to alter to react to new challenges.
When his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, moved the Philippines away from its former colonial ruler into closer ties with Beijing, relations with the US deteriorated.
