Marcos: Philippines Bases for Defense, Not Offense, Against China and Taiwan

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said that granting US access to Philippine military bases would be "useful" if China attacked Taiwan. The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) reached with the United States in 2014 was originally conceived to improve disaster responses. A February agreement to allow the US to use four additional Philippines military bases is highly sensitive for Manila, which wants closer military ties to the United States without alarming China, its largest trading partner. Marcos said that Manila had agreed in principle to joint South China Sea patrols with the United States, Australia, Japan, and South Korea and that he expected them to start this year. Marcos also said his country and China needed to resolve disputes over oil and gas exploration as quickly as possible.