China Philippines Relations
Written By Mark Sheehan
Edited by OICP
On February 2nd, 2023, just two days before the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, the Republic of the Philippines and the United States announced the increase in American military presence in the country amid rising tensions in the South China Sea. This event marks yet another escalation in an area that has seen two Taiwan Straits Crises, overlapping territorial claims, and many naval skirmishes.
This announcement came during a visit by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin who said the agreement is “part of our effort to modernize our alliance, and these efforts are especially important as the People’s Republic of China continues to advance its illegitimate claims in the West Philippine Sea.” Historically, the United States and the Philippines have had a strong military alliance ever since the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty created in the wake of the Second World War. This strong alliance was questioned by former President Duterte who ended the Visiting Forces Agreement with the U.S. in 2020 and tried to promote a more neutral stance between the two powers; current President Marcos, however, has pivoted from this stance to reaffirm U.S.- Philippine relations.
The new agreement allows U.S. forces to enter four more military bases in addition to the five sites that the U.S. already had access to as well as the increasing amount of funding towards military infrastructure investments. These investments as well as the presence of American troops would help boost the Philippine economy during its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The four proposed sites, located in Palawan, Zambales, Isabela, and Cagayan, would greatly increase the American presence in the Indo-Pacific and would be important strategic positions in the event of an armed conflict. While the U.S. has no territorial claims in the South China Sea, placing troops in the Philippines is a direct counter to the growing Chinese influence in the area. For the Philippines, this is only a continuation of a long struggle to cement its claims in the region as 2023 marks ten years since the original South China Sea Arbitration. This arbitration ruled in 2016 that China’s 9-dash line claim, land reclamation efforts, and other activities in the area have no basis in international law and infringes upon Philippine territory. This ruling, however, did nothing to actually curb Chinese expansion and could explain why the Philippines has turned to the U.S.
Mao Ning, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said that this agreement is a needless escalation in regional tensions and that other countries “need to remain vigilant and avoid being coerced or used by the U.S.” The idea of American coercion has been a common theme during the Biden administration as the United States has increased military cooperation with Japan and South Korea as well. While the Marcos administration has been very receptive to American military cooperation, there has been some backlash from leftist and nationalist groups who claim that the American presence is a threat to Philippines’ sovereignty and threatens peace in the region.
This agreement follows the trend of the Biden administration’s increasingly aggressive stance towards limiting Chinese influence. While those in the west see this move as the U.S. defending a long time ally and ensuring the freedom of navigation in international waters, it definitely adds another point of tension in a region that is already full of complexities.
“U.S. forms new pact with Philippines in effort to counter China.”
“Duterte terminates Philippines troop pact, U.S. calls move 'unfortunate.'”
“Filipinos speak out against U.S. military expansion plans.”
“U.S. armed forces returning to Philippines to counter China threats.”
“Japan shouldn’t bind itself to ‘detonators of US military.’”
“U.S. Relations With the Philippines - United States Department of State.”
