ENHANCED DEFENCE COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN U.S. PHILIPPINES

The United States and the Philippines announced a deal on Thursday to give U.S. troops access to another four bases in the Southeast Asian nation, as the long-time allies seek to counter China’s military rise.
The agreement to expand cooperation in “strategic areas of the country”
Beijing’s growing assertiveness on Taiwan and its building of bases in the disputed South China Sea have given fresh impetus to Washington and Manila to strengthen their partnership.

Key cooperation

Given its proximity to Taiwan and its surrounding waters, cooperation from the Philippines would be key in the event of a conflict with China, which a four-star U.S. Air Force general has warned could happen as early as 2025.
The four new locations bring the total number of sites accessible to U.S. forces to nine
Talks were ongoing for a potential 10th site, a senior Philippine
The U.S. and the Philippines have a decades-old security alliance that includes a mutual defence treaty and the 2014 Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which allows U.S. troops to rotate through five Philippine bases, including those near disputed waters.
It also allows the U.S. military to store defence equipment and supplies on those bases.
The EDCA has sought to accelerate its implementation.
The location of the new sites would be made public after local communities and officials had been consulted.
But it has been widely reported that most of the locations are on the main island of Luzon — the closest Philippine landmass to Taiwan — where the U.S. already has access to two bases.
The fourth will reportedly be on the western island of Palawan, facing the Spratly Islands in the hotly contested South China Sea, taking the number of sites there to two.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB

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