The Philippines says it has no plans to give the United States more access to military bases in the Southeast Asian country, putting a cap on the current total number of nine sites.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told foreign correspondents in Manila Monday that the country’s decision last year to increase the number of sites agreed upon under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement or EDCA was a response to aggressive actions by China in the South China Sea.
China has accused the Philippines of triggering confrontations by encroaching into what China asserts as its territorial waters. The deepening dispute between China and the Philippines has created issues for the Philippines' exploration of oil and gas in the region, despite an agreement between the two nations to restart discussions on joint exploration.
However, China had previously asserted that the Philippines was “stoking the fire” by allowing the U.S. access to more bases close to potential flashpoints.
"These are reactions to what has happened in the South China Sea, to the aggressive actions that we have had to deal with," Marcos said.
Three of the four more recent sites to which the U.S. military was given access face north toward Taiwan and one is near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, a frequent site of maritime tensions. Beijing argues that the locations give the U.S. a staging advantage in event of a conflict.
In a first-of-its-kind three-way summit last week, U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and asked Congress for a further $128 million for infrastructure projects at the current base sites. Biden also reiterated his "ironclad" commitment to defend Pacific allies.
Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press and Reuters.
