US Says It’s Looking To Bolster Philippines Ability To Operate in South China Sea

US officials said Wednesday that the US is looking to help bolster the Philippines’ military and its ability to operate in the South China Sea, an area where Chinese and Philippine vessels frequently have tense encounters over disputed reefs.

“What we are looking to do across the board … is to bolster our Philippine ally’s capabilities and abilities to continue to operate lawfully in its waters and just stand up to the types of challenges that has faced in recent months,” Mira Rapp-Hooper, director for East Asia on the National Security Council, said at an event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute think tank, according to Reuters.

Ely Ratner, the top Pentagon official for the Asia Pacific, said the US was “on track to engage in some unprecedented support for the modernization of the … armed forces of the Philippines.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are leaving for a trip to Asia this week and will meet with Philippine officials in Manila on Monday and Tuesday. They’re expected to announce new US support for the Philippines while they are there.

The comments from Ratner and Rapp-Hooper came after China and the Philippines reached a deal to ease tensions around Second Thomas Shoal, a Philippine-occupied reef in the South China Sea that’s also claimed by China, Vietnam, and Taiwan. However, China and the Philippines are at odds over the details of the agreement, which weren’t made public.

Incidents between Chinese and Philippine boats in the South China Sea became much more frequent after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in 2022. His predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, was much friendlier toward Beijing and maintained a status quo in the South China Sea to avoid conflict.

Marcos has been emboldened by the US to push back on China’s claims in the South China Sea. The Biden administration and Marcos’ government signed a deal that gives the US military access to four more bases in the Philippines, and the US has been increasing patrols in the South China Sea and encouraging new cooperation between Manila and other regional US allies.

The US has also repeatedly vowed that the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty applies to attacks on Philippine vessels in the South China Sea, meaning the waters are a potential flashpoint for a war between the US and China.