US cannot store arms in Philippines to defend Taiwan, Manila says in ‘friends to all’ policy

Washington has access to nine sites near the Taiwan Strait and the disputed South China Sea, under a military defence pact with Manila
China has criticised the deal, accusing the US of taking advantage of the bases to interfere in the situation across the Taiwan Strait to serve its ‘geopolitical goals’

The Philippines

SCMP’s Asia desk

Published: 6:37pm, 19 Apr 2023

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The Philippines has ruled out the United States stockpiling weapons that could be deployed to defend Taiwan on bases the security ally has access to under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said Washington would not be permitted to conduct activities that were not stipulated in the 2014 deal.

“Our view is that EDCA is not aimed at any third country outside its meant-for use for the Philippines,” Manalo told a senate hearing on Wednesday.

US soldiers practice firing machine guns during the annual “Balikatan” US-Philippines joint military exercises. Photo: Reuters

He added the government’s key foreign policy was really to be “friends to all” and pledged the security agreement would reflect that position.

The minister also said Manila would not authorise US troops to refuel, repair and reload at EDCA sites, The Philippine Star reported.

Senator and President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s sister Imee Marcos questioned the rationale behind the selection of the locations during the hearing.

The Philippines earlier this month said it would give the US access to four additional bases near the Taiwan Strait and the disputed South China Sea, bringing the number of military sites Washington could use in the country to nine.

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EDCA allows the US to rotate in troops for prolonged stays as well as build and operate facilities on its bases.

Defence chief Carlito Galvez Jnr said the sites were chosen to protect the country’s “vulnerable” north and its maritime interests in the West Philippine Sea.

Unconvinced, Marcos retorted that she and the fishermen in the northern region did not believe they were at risk.

The West Philippine Sea is the term used by Manila to describe the eastern parts of the South China Sea that are within its exclusive economic zone and territorial waters.

04:04

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She also wanted to know the EDCA’s role in modernising the Philippines ageing military hardware and why the country was depending on “foreigners” for its external protection amid rising regional tensions.

Galvez told Marcos “the modernisation effort of EDCA is to really prepare to defend our country collectively with our allies”.

Manila and Washington maintain the new sites are primarily for responding to humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Southeast Asian nation.

But that explanation has failed to satisfy China, which has sharply criticised the deal and accused the US of taking advantage of the bases to “interfere in the situation across the Taiwan Strait to serve its geopolitical goals”.

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China has also denounced the Philippines for its defence alliance with the US.

As a result, President Marcos said on Wednesday that he would meet Beijing’s ambassador in Manila and seek an explanation over his remarks on how the Philippines was “stoking the fire” over Taiwan’s independence.

Last week, Huang Xilian said the Philippines’ decision to expand US military access “caused widespread and grave concern among Chinese people”.

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He advised the Philippines to “unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence” if the Southeast Asian country cared “genuinely” about the 150,000 Filipinos working on the island.

Marcos said that the envoy’s remark must have been “lost in translation”.

China’s embassy in Manila later said the ambassador was misquoted, amid criticisms from lawmakers.

US President Joe Biden last year said he would be prepared to use military force to defend Taiwan if Beijing invaded despite Washington’s long-standing policy of strategic ambiguity.

China views the self-ruled island as a breakaway province to be united with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg