As tensions brew between global superpowers United States and China over Taiwan’s independence, the Philippines finds itself in a crucial position with its neutral and independent foreign policy.
As the stronger ties between the US and the Philippines appear to have alarmed China, the Southeast Asian nation is now under the spotlight with geopolitical decisions seen to drastically impact tensions.
Beijing said the drills were"a serious warning against the Taiwan separatist forces' collusion with external forces, and a necessary move to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity." To show their stronger ties, Amercan and Filipino officials released a joint statement on security issues.
The new EDCA sites give the US expanded access to Philippine military bases, where its troops can be positioned on rotation and where it can store defense equipment and supplies.that an expanded military cooperation with the US will only endanger regional peace and stability,"drag the Philippines into the abyss of geopolitical strife and damage its economic development.