U.S. military gets new training sites in Philippines as China tensions continue

[Stevicus]

U.S. military gets new training sites in Philippines as China tensions continue - UPI.com

The U.S. Department of Defense Monday confirmed the sites of four new locations in the Philippines where American military forces will begin building a larger presence.

www.upi.com

April 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Defense Monday confirmed the sites of four new locations in the Philippines where American military forces will begin building a larger presence.

"In addition to the five existing sites, these new locations will strengthen the interoperability of the United States and Philippine armed forces and allow us to respond more seamlessly together to address a range of shared challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, including natural and humanitarian disasters," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Monday at the Pentagon.

The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the two countries went into effect on Feb. 1.

The four new sites are Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; Balabac Island in Palawan; and Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan.

Meanwhile, Kevin McCarthy is meeting with Taiwan's President in California, and between that and the new bases the Philippines, China is not happy.

The new military installations are meant to counteract a growing Chinese military presence in the region.

On Monday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed he will meet with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday in California, resulting in China threatening retaliation.

The agreement will "seriously endanger regional peace and stability and drag the Philippines into the abyss of geopolitical strife and damage its economic development," a spokesperson for China's embassy in the Philippines told The Hill in a statement.

I found another article which mentions the possibility of widening the alliance among Pacific Rim nations. We already have AUKUS, although there's talk of widening that to include Japan and South Korea.

The US mulls opening Pacific defense pact with Britain and Australia to more countries | Semafor

Expanding the AUKUS program will likely further ratchet tensions with China.

www.semafor.com

Nonetheless, the announcement of AUKUS last year caught many Asian leaders by surprise, in part because it only included countries from the Anglosphere, despite focusing on the Pacific. Many analysts have argued that to become a true regional security partnership, and avoid the taint of Western chauvinism, the pact would need to add Asian nations, such as South Korea or Japan, which are both seeking to grow their defense alliance with the U.S. and its allies. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida publicly supported AUKUS last week.

“Not to include Japan would look a little weird,” said Michael Auslin, an Asia scholar at the Hoover Institution, who’s advocated for Tokyo joining the pact.

Both Tokyo and Seoul have vast high-tech sectors that could contribute significantly to many of the Pillar II initiatives, such as hypersonic weapons, AI, and quantum computing. The world’s second-fastest supercomputer, Fukagu, is based in Kobe and was built using Fujitsu Global’s microprocessors. South Korea is also a leader in chip design.

Partnering with Asian countries on some aspects of AUKUS but not others also makes sense given the complicated security dynamics in Asia. Most countries in the region are wary about Beijing’s growing military might, but also don’t want to be caught in the middle of the growing U.S.-China rivalry. Nations like Indonesia and India collaborate with the U.S. on specific security issues but aren’t going to embrace a formal alliance with Washington, like Japan’s, South Korea’s, and Australia’s. Biden administration officials say their emerging strategy factors in these realities.

“We’re not looking to create a NATO in the Pacific,” the White House official said.

It wouldn't be a NATO in the Pacific, but it would be similar in that it would be a defensive pact among the nations involved. As the article points out, nations like Indonesia and India probably want to join such an alliance.

 

[lukethethird]

It ought to be called the U.S. Department of Offense.