US May Use Philippine Military Bases If Taiwan Conflict Threatens National Security

A Filipino fisherman motors past the U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD-20) during joint exercises on a beach at San Antonio off Zambales province in the Philippines in April 2015. Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

The Philippines would allow U.S. forces access to its military bases during a Taiwan conflict if it was deemed “important” to Philippine security, its ambassador to the United States said on Monday.

Philippine envoy Jose Manuel Romualdez said the two countries have begun talks to increase the number of Philippine military bases accessible to U.S. troops, which may include a naval base. But details have not been decided yet.

“Our military and the military of the United States are all looking into what are the possible areas,” Romualdez said in an interview with Nikkei Asia.

Under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which was signed in 2014, U.S. troops are allowed to construct facilities and preposition aircraft and vessels on five Philippine military bases.

Romualdez said they aim to secure the additional military bases already earmarked for U.S. troops over the next three years, though he did not specify the new locations.

China’s ruling communist party (CCP) has increased its military maneuvers near Taiwan following U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in support of democracy and pushing back against autocracy. The CCP claims Taiwan as part of its territory to govern and has vowed to conquer it by force if necessary.

Romualdez said the Philippines desires peace in the region and hopes that the tensions can be eased through because “nobody wants to have any kind of war or confrontation.”

“We want to ask both countries to lessen the tension by having more dialogue and then trying to resolve all of these issues because it’s in our part of the world,” he said.

The Philippines is concerned with the CCP’s encroaching on territories it claims in the South China Sea and ongoing military drills surrounding Taiwan due to its proximity to Taiwan, with which it shares a sea border off the Luzon Strait.

Philippines Seeks Stronger US Ties

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the volatile international situation—including the Ukraine war and China’s military threat near Taiwan—highlighted the need for his country to improve ties with Washington.

“We can no longer isolate one part of our relationship from the other,” Marcos said following his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Manila on Aug. 6.

Marcos said that the U.S.-Philippines mutual defense treaty is “in constant evolution” and that Washington’s support for the Southeast Asian nation has been extensive over the years, according to a state-run news agency.

Blinken reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to defend the Philippines and said that any armed attack against Philippine forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would trigger U.S. mutual defense obligations.

“We’re committed to the Mutual Defense Treaty. We’re committed to working with you on shared challenges,” he said.

Beijing claims much of the South China Sea as its own under its so-called “nine-dash line.” The Hague Tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines in 2016. Still, it has had little to no impact on the Chinese regime’s behavior, with Beijing repeatedly intruding into Manila’s territorial zones.

Earlier in June, the Philippines summoned a Chinese Embassy official to protest the Chinese coast guard’s alleged “harassment” of a Taiwanese vessel conducting a marine scientific research activity with Filipino scientists on board in the sea disputed by the CCP.

Other nations, including Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, also have competing claims against the CCP regarding the South China Sea.