China says Philippines ‘stoking fire’ of Taiwan tensions with US military base deal

Ambassador Huang Xilian said Manila’s move to give the US access to new sites near the Taiwan Strait ‘has caused grave concern among Chinese people’

He also accused Washington of using the bases to advance its ‘anti-China agenda’ at the expense of the region

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Philippine soldiers fire artillery shells during a joint military exercise with the US in New Clark City on April 14. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Published: 1:58pm, 15 Apr 2023Updated: 3:21pm, 15 Apr 2023

A Chinese envoy said the Philippines is “stoking the fire” over Taiwan’s independence by giving the US access to military sites near the Taiwan Strait under an expanded defence agreement.

While Manila has adhered to the one-China principle, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines said the decision “has caused widespread and grave concern among Chinese people.” Huang Xilian was speaking on Friday at a forum in Manila on China-Philippines relations.

The Philippines this month identified the four new military sites the US will have access to under their Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement, or EDCA. Three are near Taiwan and a fourth faces the disputed South China Sea.

The new locations bring the number of military sites the US can access in the Philippines to nine, under the pact signed in 2014 which allows the US to rotate its troops for prolonged stays as well as build and operate facilities on those bases.

“Obviously, the US intends to take advantage of the new EDCA sites to interfere in the situation across the Taiwan Strait to serve its geopolitical goals and advance its anti-China agenda,” Huang said. That’s at the expense of the Philippines and the region, he added.

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