US considering seeking further expansion of Philippines base access, admiral says (updated)

China Power Equipment

14/09/2023 07:31

(Adds details, quotes throughout)
    By Karen Lema and Mikhail Flores
       MANILA, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The United States may seek
access to more military bases in the Philippines under a joint
defence agreement between the two countries, the chief of the
U.S. Indo-Pacific command said on Thursday. 
    The Philippines has this year increased the number of bases
accessible to the U.S. military from five to nine, a move that
has riled regional power China, which sees the arrangement as
provocative and likely to raise tensions. 
    Admiral John Aquilino said he and the Philippines' military
chief, Romeo Brawner, had discussed further expanding the number
of bases U.S. forces could access under the Enhanced Defense
Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
    "General Brawner and I made recommendations to our senior
leaders for the consideration of additional sites, but there's
still work to do there," Aquilino said, stressing that the U.S.
was operating in the country at the invitation of the
Philippines.  
    The closer U.S. defence ties with the Philippines after a
period of decline has caused concern in China that Washington
has Taiwan in mind in its efforts to boost its military presence
in the region. 
    The United States says it intends to bolster an already
strong alliance and improve the defence capability of the
Philippines. 
    Brawner said the purpose of EDCA was training exercises and
humanitarian and disaster response, key planks of a decades-old
alliance between the two countries, and not related to regional
security threats. 
    "All of this joint operations, even the selection of our
EDCA sites, has nothing to do with the other countries in the
Indo- Pacific region, meaning the threats that could come out
from these countries," he said. 
    Aquilino also said the two countries were seeking to
complete an agreement on boosting their intelligence sharing.
        

 (Reporting by Karen Lema and Mikhail Flores; Writing by Martin
Petty. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
 ((karen.lema@thomsonreuters.com; +632 841-8938;))