Increased US partnership with the Philippines coming in 2024

In 2023, the U.S. and the Philippines announced a historic pact that would open up several bases on the island archipelago nation to American forces for the first time in decades.

While the agreement does not allow the U.S. to permanently station troops in Philippine territory, several of the newly accessible bases abut the South China Sea to the north.

Plans are already underway to fortify the newly accessible bases.

The coming year will likely see Washington and Manila expand their cooperation and ready their respective navies to counter China’s assertions of ownership over parts of the South China Sea.

Old salts shouldn’t expect anything similar to the Navy’s former and massive presence at Subic Bay, which ended in 1992, but the new agreement marks a significant change forged largely out of maritime interests.

China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, have been locked in increasingly tense territorial disputes over the busy and resource-rich South China Sea. Washington lays no territorial claims to the strategically important waters but has deployed its warships and aircraft for patrols that it says promote freedom of navigation and the rule of law. In turn, that military presence has infuriated Beijing.

At the announcement of the new deal in February, Austin thanked Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whom he briefly met in Manila, for allowing the U.S. military to broaden its presence in the Philippines — Washington’s oldest treaty ally in Asia.

“I have always said that it seems to me that the future of the Philippines and, for that matter, the Asia-Pacific will always have to involve the United States, simply because those partnerships are so strong,” Marcos told Austin.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.

2023年，美国和菲律宾宣布了一项历史性协议，该协议将向美军开放该岛国上的几个军事基地，这是几十年来首次开放这些基地。

虽然该协议不允许美国在菲律宾领土上永久驻军，但几个新近开放的基地北部与南海接壤。

目前已着手制定计划，加强对新近开放的基地的防御。

来年，华盛顿和马尼拉可能会扩大合作，并准备各自的海军，以应对中国对南海部分海域的主权声索。

老水手们不应该指望海军在苏比克湾会像 1992 年那样大规模驻扎，但这项新协议标志着一项重大变革，而这项变革很大程度上是由海上利益促成的。

中国和菲律宾，以及越南、马来西亚、文莱和台湾，在资源丰富且航行繁忙的南海，领土争端日益紧张。华盛顿并未对这片具有重要战略意义的海域提出领土主张，但却部署了军舰和飞机进行巡逻，声称此举是为了维护航行自由和法治。而这种军事存在，反过来激怒了北京。

在二月份宣布这项新协议时，奥斯汀感谢菲律宾总统小费迪南德·马科斯（他曾在马尼拉与马科斯短暂会面），感谢他允许美国军队扩大在菲律宾的存在——菲律宾是华盛顿在亚洲最古老的条约盟友。

“我一直认为，菲律宾的未来，乃至整个亚太地区的未来，都必须与美国息息相关，因为这些伙伴关系非常牢固，”马科斯告诉奥斯汀。

美联社对本报道亦有贡献。

杰夫是《军事时报》的执行主编，但他仍然热爱写作。他曾深入报道伊拉克和阿富汗战争，也曾在《芝加哥论坛报》担任记者。欢迎大家通过 geoffz@militarytimes.com 向他提供各种新闻线索。