Last week, the Pentagon revealed that US troops are deployed as part of a task force to support the Philippines in its dispute with China in the South China Sea, a deployment that is a significant provocation toward Beijing.
The US Task Force Ayungin is named after the Philippine name for Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed reef that’s often the site of tense encounters and collisions between Chinese and Philippines vessels.
The Philippine military grounded a rusted-out World War II-era ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert its claim to the reef and uses it as a base of operations. The encounters between the Chinese and Philippine vessels usually happen when Philippine boats are attempting to resupply the grounded ship.
While US military leaders have said they support the idea of helping the Philippines with supplying the BRP Sierra Madre, which could put the US in a direct clash with China, Philippine security officials insisted the US troops in the task force have no “direct participation” in resupply missions.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin revealed the existence of the task force last week when he visited Palawan, a Philippine island province on the South China Sea. Austin wrote on X that he “met with some American service members deployed to US Task Force Ayungin.”
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Pete Nguyen told The Inquirer that the US troops deployed as part of the task force are “providing our Philippines allies with enhanced cooperation and interoperability for their maritime operations.”
“This support includes planning and training with [the] Philippines’ Western Command for systems provided through US security assistance, such as the unmanned surface vessels that Secretary Austin observed during his stop in Palawan,” Nguyen added.
The Philippines is expected to receive more drone boats (unmanned surface vessels) as part of a $500 million military aid package from the US Austin announced back in July. The $500 million was included in the $95 billion foreign military aid bill President Biden signed into law earlier this year.
The increasing US support for the Philippines and its involvement in the maritime dispute between Manila and Beijing has turned the area into a potential flashpoint for a war between the US and China. The US has made clear that the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty applies to attacks on Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.
