Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday said the US would gain expanded access to military sites in northern Philippines close to Taiwan, as well as in Palawan province near South China Sea, paving the way for greater US presence in key locations as tensions with Beijing linger.
Marcos said at a televised briefing that the four additional sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) are “scattered around the Philippines” and would be identified once formalized with the US.
The new sites are meant to “defend” the main Luzon island’s eastern coast, as well as some areas in the south, the president said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Local politicians who initially opposed the sites have “come around to support” the plan to expand US access after talks with the national government, he added.
Governor Manuel Mamba of Cagayan Province, where US forces might be allowed to stay with their weapons in up to two Philippine military areas, said Marcos has the prerogative to make the decision.
However, he added that he remained opposed to allowing the Americans to base in Cagayan, which lies across a sea border from southern China and Taiwan, because that could turn his province into a key target of the Chinese military if an armed conflict involving the US military breaks out over Taiwan.
“It is the president’s call, not mine,” Mamba said. “But I maintain my stand against any foreign forces stationed in my province. Still, I am against EDCA sites in my province.”
In Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said that regional countries “should stay vigilant and should not be used by the US side.”
“The US, out of its zero sum mentality, has built up its military capacity, which jeopardizes the regional peace and stability,” he told a regular news briefing.
The US last month secured access to four more Philippine military sites amid continued tensions with Beijing over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
China has criticized the plan, with its embassy in Manila describing it as part of US’ attempt to “encircle and contain” Beijing.
Marcos has been bolstering his nation’s longstanding defense alliance with the US that was strained under his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte. The US and the Philippines are planning joint patrols in the disputed sea, and are scheduled to hold bigger military drills next month. Their top defense officials and diplomats are also set to meet in Washington in the middle of next month.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS