May 1, 2021 Share
Comments by Philippine officials indicate that, with a growing Chinese maritime threat, Manila now hopes the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States – which the Philippines once moved to terminate – survives, experts told VOA Thursday.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. last year announced the country had suspended the announced termination of the agreement. The 1999 pact provides for arms sales, intelligence exchanges and discussions on military cooperation. It allows U.S. troops access to Philippine soil for military exercises aimed at regional security and local humanitarian work. Those measures shore up a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
Locsin said in a tweet earlier this month that negotiations over the pact were nearly finished, Philippine media reported last week. The talks began in February and coincided with China’s mooring of 220 fishing boats at a reef that Beijing and Manila dispute. Media reports quote Locsin
As Chinese Maritime Threat Looms, Philippines, US Discuss Saving Deal Manila Once Scrapped
01 May 2021
VOA News
FILE - The amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu is seen docked following joint exercises at the Alava pier, off Subic Bay Freeport zone, northwestern Philippines, Oct. 13, 2014, as part of the Visiting Forces Agreement.
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Comments by Philippine officials indicate that, with a growing Chinese maritime threat, Manila now hopes the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States - which the Philippines once moved to terminate - survives, experts told VOA Thursday.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. last year announced the country had suspended the announced termination of the agreement. The 1999 pact provides for arms sales, intelligence exchanges and discussions on military cooperation. It allows U.S. troops access to Philippine soil for military exercises aimed at regional security and local humanitarian work. Those measures shore
ChinaPhilippines summons Chinese ambassador over vessels in disputed waters
Reuters
2 minutes read
Chinese vessels, believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, are seen at Whitsun Reef, South China Sea on March 27, 2021. Philippine Coast Guard/National Task Force-West Philippine Sea/Handout via REUTERS
The Philippines said on Tuesday it had summoned the Chinese ambassador to convey the Southeast Asian countryâs âutmost displeasureâ over the continued presence of Chinese vessels in disputed waters around a reef in the South China Sea.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian was summoned on Monday and told that China should immediately withdraw all its vessels from the disputed Whitsun reef and other Philippine maritime zones.
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