The Philippines ‘will not become a staging post’ for US-China conflict

Ferdinand Marcos, the president of the Philippines, has said he will not allow his country to become a “staging post” for military action ahead of a four-day official visit to Washington DC for security talks.

Mr Marcos’s official visit will be the first by a Philippine president in more than 10 years and comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and China as they compete for strategic advantage in the Indo-Pacific.

Manila has recently faced Beijing’s ire after granting the US access to four additional Filipino military bases. The move gives American forces a stronger foothold in locations close to Taiwan and in the South China Sea, where China is making sweeping territorial claims.

Mr Marcos must also counter domestic disquiet about the risk of being drawn into a future US-China conflict.

“We will not encourage any provocative action that will involve the Philippines by any other country,” Marcos told local reporters on Sunday as he flew to Washington.

“We will not allow the Philippines to be used as a staging post for any kind of military action.”

The United States, which sees Manila as a key regional ally, has sought to reassure the Philippines that it can be relied on for support, recently calling on Beijing to stop “provocative and unsafe conduct” in the contested South China Sea following a near-collision with a Philippine coast guard vessel.

In an interview with Nikkei Asia last week, Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, said Washington was prepared to assist Manila’s efforts to resupply a grounded naval ship on the contested Second Thomas Shoal.

The presence of the small military contingent, which was intentionally grounded in 1999 to assert the Philippines’ own territorial claims over the atoll, has been the source of frequent confrontations with China. Beijing has previously tried to block access to the site to force the Filipino personnel out.

China has “frequently interfered with those resupplies,” and these acts are “clearly unlawful,” Adm Paparo said.

In a briefing ahead of the visit, a senior White House official said it was “clear that we’re in a deeply consequential period in terms of our Indo-Pacific engagement with allies and partners”.

The official added that Mr Biden and Mr Marcos are expected to reach agreements on increased US investment in the Philippines, as well as American support for the modernisation of Filipino armed forces, as well as further “military enhancements”, amid shared concerns about China.

“We’re seeking not to be provocative, but to provide both moral and practical support for the Philippines as they try to make their way in a complex Western Pacific,” the official said.

“Their geographic position is critical.”