Is the US-Philippines military base deal a big threat to China?

Name: US to gain expanded access to Philippine military bases in bid to counter China
Uploaded: 2023-02-03T14:30:11.000Z
Duration: 3 min 30 s
Description: US to gain expanded access to Philippine military bases in bid to counter China

Level of risk rests on whether missiles are deployed or US presence is permanent, Chinese analysts say

Deal will allow US access to four strategic military bases around the Philippines

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A new agreement will allow the US military access to four strategic bases around the Philippines. Photo: EPA-EFE

Amber Wangin Beijing

Published: 10:30pm, 3 Feb 2023Updated: 2:14am, 4 Feb 2023

An expanded US military presence at bases in the Philippines will boost the countries’ surveillance in the South China Sea and over Taiwan, but the impact on China could be limited, Chinese analysts said.

Under an agreement announced by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Philippine Defence Secretary Carlito Galvez in Manila on Thursday, the United States will gain access to four more military sites, bringing the total to nine.

As part of the 2014 Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), the four new sites will enable the two countries to respond to “shared challenges”, and allow for more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines, according to a US statement.

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US to gain expanded access to Philippine military bases in bid to counter China

Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation analyst, said the new sites had potential to “pose a big threat to China”, given their close proximity to Taiwan and the Spratly Islands.

“If it is about permanent basing, it will have a huge impact on the mainland’s plan to reunify Taiwan by force and its navigation in the Nansha Islands,” he said, referring to the Spratly Islands.

“If it isn’t, then the impact will not be that huge.”

The locations of the bases have not been disclosed, but in November, Lieutenant General Bartolome Vicente Bacarro of the Philippines said Washington had identified five possible sites, including two in Cagayan, one in Palawan, one in Zambales and one in Isabela.

Cagayan and Isabela are in the northern Philippines. Cagayan sits across from Taiwan and Palawan is near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Is the US-Philippines military base deal a big threat to China?

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Level of risk rests on whether missiles are deployed or US presence is permanent, Chinese analysts say Deal will allow US access to four strategic military bases around the Philippines

Level of risk rests on whether missiles are deployed or US presence is permanent, Chinese analysts say

Deal will allow US access to four strategic military bases around the Philippines