Philippines, Australia to seal new defence pact as China tensions rise
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Philippine Defence Minister Gilberto Teodoro and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles shake hands in Makati City, on Aug 22.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
MANILA - The Philippines and Australia are working towards a new defence agreement to be signed in 2026, their defence ministers said on Aug 22, as both nations seek to step up military cooperation to deal with shared security challenges in the Indo-Pacific.
Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the enhanced defence cooperation pact will pave the way for more frequent joint military drills aimed at boosting combined operational capability and strengthening regional deterrence.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles, who is in Manila for a ministerial meeting, said the agreement would also support the development of defence infrastructure in the Philippines, with projects planned at five locations. He did not provide details.
Security engagements between the two allies have deepened as they look to counter what they have described as China’s increasingly aggressive activities in the South China Sea
Ahead of Mr Marles’ visit, the Philippine military reported an increase in the presence of Chinese vessels around the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, coinciding with ongoing joint drills between Canberra and Manila.
The 15-day exercise called Alon, Filipino for “wave”, began on Aug 15 and included a joint sail between the navies
China’s actions in the South China Sea “are a matter not only of concern but of condemnation”, Mr Teodoro said at a joint press conference with Mr Marles, adding that they have widened China’s “trust deficit”.
He said that while the Philippines could not control China’s unilateral activities in the region, there was a need to build deterrence.
The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
China claims the South China Sea, a conduit for more than US$3 trillion (S$3.87 trillion) in annual shipborne commerce, almost entirely as its own.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said China’s claims had no legal basis, siding with the Philippines, which brought the case.
But China rejects the ruling, leading to a series of sea and air confrontations with the Philippines in the strategic waterway. REUTERS
