Blinken: Once in a generation investment will modernize PH military, coast guard
The United States will provide $500 million in military funding to the Philippines, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, as Washington boosts ties with Manila in the face of China’s growing assertiveness.
Blinken was in Manila with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as part of an Asia-Pacific tour to strengthen Washington’s latticework of alliances aimed at countering Beijing.
“We’re now allocating an additional $500 million in foreign military financing to the Philippines to boost security collaboration with our oldest treaty ally in this region,” Blinken told a joint news conference.
Blinken described it as a “once in a generation investment” to help modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard.
The US officials met with President Marcos, who has taken a strong stand against Chinese actions in the South China Sea, before holding “2+2” talks with their Philippine counterparts Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro.
“I’m always very happy that these communication lines are very open so that all the things that we are doing together, in terms of our alliance, in terms of the specific context of our situation here in the West Philippine Sea and the Indo-Pacific are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in terms of our responses,” Mr. Marcos said.
Blinken described the meeting “historic,” noting that it was the first time the 2+2 meeting took place in Manila.
Austin reaffirmed Blinken’s views, emphasizing the strong ties between the Philippines and the US.
“We’re more than allies — we’re family and it always feels that way,” Austin said.
The Philippines’ proximity to the hotly contested South China Sea, as well as self-ruled Taiwan, would make it a key partner for the United States if a conflict were to break out in the region.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, and considers democratic Taiwan to be part of its territory.
Under their mutual defense treaty, the Philippines and the United States are required to come to the other’s defense in case of an “armed attack” against vessels, aircraft, military, and coast guard anywhere in the Pacific theater, which Washington says includes the South China Sea.
Beijing’s actions in the strategic waterway have been high on the agenda for Blinken’s Asia-Pacific trip, which has included the foreign ministers meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos and “2+2” talks in Japan.
A Filipino sailor lost a thumb in a June 17 confrontation near the flashpoint Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
Chinese coast guard members wielding knives, sticks and an axe foiled a Philippine Navy attempt to resupply Filipino troops stationed on the crumbling ship.
The two sides subsequently agreed to a “provisional arrangement” for the delivery of food and water to the BRP Sierra Madre, which was deliberately grounded in 1999 to assert Manila’s claims to the area.
The Philippines said it had carried out a resupply mission on Saturday without “untoward incident.”
Meanwhile, Manalo said the deployment of a US mid-range missile system in the country would not lead to an arms race with China.
“All I can really say is that first, these missiles are meant for our own defensive capabilities, our own ability to improve our defensive deterrence, and they are not meant for any offensive purposes,” Manalo said.
“I really can’t see, on that basis, how it would lead to an arms race,” he added.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier expressed concern over the presence of the US intermediate-range Typhon missile system. With AFP
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Blinken announces $500 million in military funding to Philippines
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