Global Courant 2023-04-30 06:45:00
WASHINGTON — Three decades after the United States closed its last military base in Southeast Asia, the tide is turning in favor of a greater U.S. presence in the region, spurred by rising tensions with China.
That’s especially evident in the Philippines, where Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the stake, had made it a habit to cast doubt on the future of defense relations with the US, usually in response to what he perceived as disdain for or interference in domestic affairs from Washington. .
But under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who succeeded him last year, the US is gaining several new footholds in the country – a crucial link in the Pentagon’s “island chain” strategy for defense lines in the Pacific.
1. How has the tide turned?
An expansion of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, agreed this year, will bring the total number of military sites the US has access to in the Philippines to nine out of five.
It also allows the US to rotate its troops for extended stays and build new facilities at the additional bases, three of which are in the north less than 300 miles from the southern tip of Taiwan — the self-governing island whose future is central. of tensions between the US and China. (The fourth is in Palawan to the south, overlooking the South China Sea.)
The moves did not go down well with China, which has repeatedly accused the US of “surrounding and restraining” the country.
2. What is the cause?
US President Joe Biden, concerned about China’s growing military might, has sought to reshape the US military presence in the Indo-Pacific region. That includes restoring the relationship with the Philippines since Mr. Marcos Jr. – the son of the late dictator and staunch US ally – succeeded Mr. Duterte.
Both countries are concerned about Beijing’s increasingly assertive claims to much of the South China Sea, including islands and reefs that Manila considers its own. Chinese ships regularly track Philippine ships, often intercepting them and forcing them to divert from disputed areas.
Marcos raised the issues during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in January, but such provocative actions continued. Just before meeting Marcos in April, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said the two countries should promote peace and stability “amid the ‘fluid’ and turbulent regional situation”.
3. What is the history?
Spain ceded its long-held colony of the Philippines to the US after losing the Spanish-American War of 1898. The US ruled the archipelago as a territory until it gained independence in 1946, after World War II.
However, Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Base, both near Manila, remained the U.S. military outposts in the Western Pacific, under a 1947 agreement. That deal was originally supposed to last 99 years, but that deal was revised several times as the Philippines periodically re-evaluated the relationship.
An amendment was added that allowed the agreement to end in 1991. As that deadline approached, the leaders of both countries sought to extend the pact. But a wave of anti-colonial sentiment led the Philippine Senate to reject a new deal, and the US closed its bases.
However, the two countries remain formal allies under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty and have continued to hold annual military exercises.
