South China Sea dispute prompts Philippines to meet US this month over troops agreement
- The Visiting Forces Agreement provides the legal framework under which US troops can operate on a rotational basis in the country
- President Rodrigo Duterte last year promised to cancel the deal but the termination process has dragged on
The Philippines in November suspended its decision to terminate the VFA for a second time to allow it to work with Washington on a long-term mutual defence pact.
“The suspension was intended that we should continue working and I am narrowing down the issues and soon we will meet … and iron out whatever differences we have,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin told ANC news channel on Monday, adding a meeting was likely in the last week of February.
He declined to elaborate on the terms of a potential agreement.
The VFA provides the legal framework under which US troops can operate on a rotational basis in the country and experts say without it their other bilateral defence agreements, including the Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT), cannot be implemented.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, which is a major trade route. The Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims.
Locsin said he would continue to press for a code of conduct in the disputed waters that “will never exclude” the United States to ensure the balance of power between Washington and Beijing in the region.