BEIJING: China warned on Tuesday that Washington was \u201cendangering regional peace\u201d in a new deal with the Philippines that will see four additional bases be used by US troops, including one near the disputed South China Sea and another not far from Taiwan.
\n\u201cOut of self-interest, the US maintains a zero-sum mentality and continues to strengthen its military deployment in the region,\u201d foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
\n\u201cThe result will inevitably be increased military tension and endangering regional peace and stability,\u201d she added.
\nLongtime treaty allies Manila and Washington agreed in February to expand cooperation in \u201cstrategic areas\u201d of the Philippines as they seek to counter Beijing\u2019s growing assertiveness over self-governed Taiwan and China\u2019s construction of bases in the South China Sea.
\nThe 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, known as EDCA, gave US forces access to five Philippine bases.
\nIt was later expanded to nine, but the locations of the four new bases were withheld until Monday while the government consulted with local officials.
\nThe four sites had been assessed by the Philippine military and deemed \u201csuitable and mutually beneficial,\u201d the Presidential Communications Office said in a statement Monday.
\nThe US Department of Defense confirmed that the locations announced were the four new EDCA sites.
\nIt also said in a statement it would add to the \u201c$82 million we have already allocated toward infrastructure investments at the existing EDCA sites,\u201d without specifying by how much.
\nThree of the sites are in the northern Philippines, including a naval base and airport in Cagayan province and an army camp in the neighboring province of Isabela, Manila\u2019s statement said.
\nThe naval base at Cagayan\u2019s Santa Ana is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Taiwan.
\nAnother site will be an air base on Balabac Island, off the southern tip of Palawan Island, near the South China Sea.
\nCagayan Governor Manuel Mamba has publicly opposed having EDCA sites in his province for fear of jeopardizing Chinese investment and becoming a target in a conflict over Taiwan.
\nBut Philippine acting defense chief Carlito Galvez told reporters recently the government had already decided on the sites and that Mamba had agreed to \u201cabide with the decision.\u201d
\nThe agreement allows US troops to rotate through the bases and also store defense equipment and supplies.
\nThe United States has a long and complex history with the Philippines.
\nThey share a decades-old mutual defense treaty, but the presence of US troops in the Southeast Asian country remains a sensitive issue.
\nThe United States had two major military bases in the Philippines but they were closed in the early 1990s after growing nationalist sentiment.
\nUS troops return to the Philippines every year for joint military exercises, including Balikatan, which kicks off next week. With more than 17,000 soldiers taking part, it will be the largest yet.
\nThe pact stalled under former president Rodrigo Duterte, who favored China over the Philippines\u2019 former colonial master.
\nBut President Ferdinand Marcos, who succeeded Duterte in June, has adopted a more US-friendly foreign policy and has sought to accelerate the implementation of the EDCA.
\nMarcos has insisted he will not let Beijing trample on Manila\u2019s maritime rights.
\nWhile the Philippine military is one of the weakest in Asia, the country\u2019s proximity to Taiwan and its surrounding waters would make it a key partner for the United States in the event of a conflict with China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING: China warned on Tuesday that Washington was \u201cendangering regional peace\u201d in a new deal with the Philippines that will see four additional bases be used by US troops, including one near the disputed South China Sea and another not far from Taiwan. \u201cOut of self-interest, the US maintains a zero-sum mentality and continues to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-323785","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n