MANILA/KUALA LUMPUR (Bloomberg): The Philippines’ top defense official called for deeper military ties with the US in a bid to face down mutual threats amid worsening relations with Beijing.
"Right now, we have to cooperate on a more deterrent posture,” given "the threats we both face,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Friday following a meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Both men are in Malaysia for a regional defense summit being held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Earlier in the day, Hegseth announced a new task force with the Philippines meant to bolster their alliance.
Philippine and Chinese vessels have frequently faced off near a disputed South China Sea shoal as tensions simmer over their long-running maritime dispute. Some incidents have turned violent, with Chinese coast guard ships firing water cannons and ramming smaller Philippine boats.
Hegseth said ahead of the meeting that the two countries "share concerns about China’s coercion in the South China Sea, particularly recently in Scarborough Shoal.”
Manila and Beijing have long been at odds over the shoal, a rich fishing ground about 120 nautical miles west of the Philippine province of Zambales. China took control of it in 2012 after a standoff, though Manila insists it is within its exclusive economic zone.
Tensions resurfaced in September after Beijing approved a plan to build a national nature reserve there, drawing criticism from the US, which has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines. The Philippines, Japan, and the US then conducted joint exercises in the disputed waters and warned China against taking provocative actions.
Teodoro also said Friday that he hopes to conclude talks on a visiting forces agreement with France next year, and is confident of opening negotiations with the UK soon.
The Philippines has been forging defense partnerships with other countries beyond its US ally as it pushes back against Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea. It has sealed military agreements with countries including Japan and New Zealand.
"China must prove that it’s amenable to abiding by international law and a set of rules without any artfulness in its interpretation,” Teodoro said.
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