MANILA: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth (pic) is scheduled to visit the Philippines, the first stop in his first trip to Asia next week, for talks that will include increasing deterrence against aggression in the disputed South China Sea, a Philippine official said on Friday (March 21).
Hegseth will be in Manila on March 28-29 to meet his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Talks will touch on increasingly assertive actions by Beijing in the South China Sea and "more significant support” to Philippine security forces by the Trump administration, said Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez.
In the US, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell later said Hegseth will visit Hawaii to meet civilian and military leaders in the Indo-Pacific Command then tour US military facilities in Guam and receive briefings on capabilities before flying to the Philippines and Japan.
Hegseth would "advance security objectives with Philippine leaders and meet with US and Philippine forces.
In Japan, he would participate in a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima and meet with Japanese leaders and US military forces, Parnell said and added without elaborating that ”as always, the secretary looks forward to some great PT (physical training) with the troops!"
"These engagements will drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our alliances and partnerships toward our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said. The trip "comes as the United States builds on unprecedented cooperation with like-minded countries to strengthen regional security.”
Trump’s "America First” foreign policy thrust has triggered concerns about the scale and depth of US commitment to the region under his new term.
"It’s a strong message to China on solid bilateral relations” between the US and the Philippines,” Romualdez said of Hegseth's upcoming visit. - AP
