Philippine president says he won’t give US military access to additional local camps
Manila, Philippines — The Philippine president said Monday that his administration has no plan to give the U.S. military access to more Philippine military camps, stressing that the U.S. military presence was fueled by China’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in 2022, gave U.S. troops and weapons access to four additional Philippine military bases, bringing to nine the number of camps where U.S. troops can rotate indefinitely, according to a 2014 agreement.
The Biden administration has strengthened a range of security alliances in the region to better counter China, a move that echoes Philippine efforts to strengthen external defenses, especially in the South China Sea.
Marcos’ decision last year alarmed China because two of the new locations were directly opposite Taiwan and southern China. Beijing accused the Philippines of providing US forces with staging areas that could be used to undermine the country’s security.
“The Philippines has no plans to create or provide access to any more bases,” Marcos said, without responding to a question at a forum with Manila-based foreign correspondents.
Asked if he was concerned that allowing US military access to Philippine bases had provoked Chinese actions in the South China Sea, Marcos said the presence of US troops was in response to Chinese actions.
“These are responses to what happened in the South China Sea, to the aggressive actions we have faced,” he said, mentioning Chinese coast guard ships using water cannons and lasers to target Philippine ships scared from the area that Beijing claims. its own. He also mentioned collisions, blocking of Filipino fishermen and maritime barriers to block ships from Scarborough Shoal, which is in the Philippine Economic Zone.
Under Marcos, the Philippines adopted a strategy to publicize the incidents by allowing journalists aboard their patrol ships to witness China’s assertive actions.
“It is critical that the media continue to expose these actions that not only threaten the peace and stability of the region, but also undermine the rules-based order that has underpinned global development and prosperity over the past century,” Marcos said.
China has blamed the Philippines for fueling the clashes by encroaching on what it said were Chinese territorial waters and reneging on an alleged agreement to pull away an old Philippine Navy ship now serving acts as Manila’s territorial outpost in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.
Marcos said he was not aware of any such deal, adding that he considered it withdrawn if it ever existed.
Last week, President Joe Biden renewed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to defend its allies in the Pacific during a summit with Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House. He reiterated that the US is obligated to defend the Philippines if its forces, aircraft or ships come under armed attack.