The US is taking “bold steps” to strengthen alliances as Washington seeks to expand its influence in the region, the defence secretary said.
The United States has announced it will provide $500 million in military funding to the Philippines amid ongoing tensions with China.
The announcement came on Tuesday as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Manila. They began an Asia-Pacific tour over the weekend aimed at boosting US influence in the region to counter “strategic challenges” posed by Beijing.
“To strengthen security cooperation with our oldest treaty ally in the region, we are now allocating an additional $500 million in foreign military financing to the Philippines,” Blinken said at a news conference in Manila alongside Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.
Blinken described the aid as a “once-in-a-generation investment” to help modernize the Philippine military and coast guard.
Austin said the funding demonstrates the U.S. commitment to taking “bold steps to strengthen the alliance.”
“We are here to build an extraordinary foundation. We are working to advance our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he declared. “This level of funding is unprecedented.”
Teodoro said the aid was a “big boost” to Manila’s defense capabilities, and Manalo said the Philippines welcomed the U.S.’s “firm commitment” to the alliance.
Military Modernization
Biden and Austin earlier met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who thanked him for helping the Philippines be more “agile in its response” in the West Philippine Sea, a term used by the Manila government to refer to an area of the South China Sea that has seen a spate of escalating clashes between Philippine and Chinese vessels in recent months.
Beijing claims nearly the entire strategic waterway, building artificial islands complete with military runways and ports and recently instituted new rules allowing its coast guard to use lethal force against foreign vessels in waters it claims.
China’s claims overlap with competing claims of neighboring ASEAN countries such as Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Amid rising tensions, Manila has begun modernizing its military, one of the weakest in Asia, and strengthening its coast guard.
Incidents in the South China Sea have also raised concerns that Washington could become embroiled in a conflict with Beijing because of its mutual defense treaty with Manila.
At the same time, the Philippines’ proximity to Taiwan and other hotly contested waters would make it an important partner for the United States if conflict were to break out in the region.
The announced funding is part of a $2 billion foreign military financing framework approved by the United States in April.
