The United States has asked for access to Philippine military bases in eight locations to rotate troops, aircraft, and ships as Washington shifts its forces to Asia and as China expands its military presence in the South China Sea.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in a speech in Arizona, outlined Washington’s next phase in its Asia “pivot,” deploying its most sophisticated destroyers, bombers and fighters to the region.
The Asia “pivot” has already seen US Marines rotating through the Australian tropical city of Darwin, the country’s closest city to Asia, for training, Reuters said in a report.
At least eight locations in the Philippines have been identified as possible sites where US troops, planes and ships will be rotated through a series of military training and exercises, Philippine General Gregorio Catapang, military chief, said. Four of the locations are on the main island of Luzon, where US and Filipino soldiers usually hold exercises.
China claims most of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea, disputed in parts with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, and denies accusations its actions in its own territory are provocative.
