The U.S. military will likely return to Subic Bay, 30 years after relinquishing
what was once its largest military base in Asia. Negotiations are ongoing and Vice President Kamala
Harris met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regarding this matter few days ago.
Rolen Paulino, chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA),
told Kyodo News on 23rd Nov that he would be "very surprised" if Subic Bay
does not become an EDCA or Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement site.
He explained, "during war, time is of the essence" pointing to
Subic Bay's excellent strategic location.
Importantly, the comment came a day before the 30th anniversary of the U.S.
Navy's departure from the harbor that it had controlled for nearly 94 years.
In this video Defense Updates reports on major steps the US & the Philippines
are taking to counter China. Let’s get into the details.
EDCA is an agreement between the US and the Philippines that provides a legal basis for
American and Filipino service members to undertake security cooperation exercises, pursue joint and
combined military training activities and rapidly respond to humanitarian assistance
and relief efforts from agreed locations in the Philippines, on a rotational basis.
Signed in 2014, the EDCA is likely to continue beyond its 10-year period.
There are currently five EDCA locations in Pampanga,
Nueva Ecija, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Palawan.
The United States has announced in November that it is identifying more
sites for the implementation of EDCA with the Philippines.
Subic
Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines,
about 100 kilometers or 62 mi northwest of Manila Bay.
From 1901 to 1992 the United States operated a naval base, Subic Bay Naval Station,
on the southeast coast of the bay, the largest naval installation in the Philippines.
The area suffered heavy damage during World War II;
it was taken by the Japanese in 1942 and retaken by Allied forces in 1944.
Its proximity to Southeast Asia gave the U.S. naval base a prominent supply and maintenance
role in the Vietnam War (1955–75) as well as the Cold War in the second half of the 20th century.
Following the U.S. turnover of the base to the Philippines in 1992, the area was redeveloped as
a free-enterprise zone that included establishing a free port and manufacturing plants, building
tourist facilities in the coastal areas, and converting the air base there to an international
airport. Those activities provided a major boon to the regional economy. In 2012 the Philippine
government agreed to begin allowing U.S. warships limited access to the Subic Bay port facilities.
On Nov. 9, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Mary Kay Carlson visited Subic Bay and the
shipyard that U.S. private firm Cerberus Capital Management LP acquired this year.
The Philippine Navy has also begun occupying part of the shipyard as its new naval base.
China claims most of the South China Sea and militarizing it by creating artificial island
and deploying weapons and radars. It said that it has "indisputable sovereignty" over the area.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan have disputed these claims.
In 2013, the Philippines government lead by then President Benigno Aquino III brought an
arbitration case against China in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, Netherlands.
On 12 July 2016, the tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines.
The landmark decision rejected China’s assertion that it enjoys historic rights over the huge
area of the South China Sea encompassed by its so called “nine-dash line.” China had
argued that the tribunal had no jurisdiction in the matter and rejected the decision.
China has been poking Philippines time and again by intruding in its waters.
Last year, the Philippines sent 4 warships to prevent a potential Chinese takeover of
the Whitsun Reef. The warships included Manila’s two brand-new missile corvettes Jose Rizal and
Antonio Luna. The operation was coordinated with U.S which had sent the USS Theodore
Roosevelt supercarrier (CVN-71) and USS Makin Island (LHD-8) Wasp-class amphibious assault
ship along with their combined air wings and escorting cruisers, destroyers and submarines.
While previous President Rodrigo Duterte had been attempting to forge closer ties
with Beijing despite Chinese wrongdoing, current president Romualdez Marcos J has
sought to take a more proactive position in dealing with China.
China has been using its coast guard to harass the Philippines fishing & patrol vessels.
A Chinese law that has come into effect recently allows the Chinese Coast Guard
or CCG to use weapons against foreign ships that it sees as illegally entering its waters.
With this law, China's coast guard could use water cannons, handcuffs,
and tear gas although the use of more lethal weapons is not explicitly ruled out.
The CCG has been transformed into a military-like organization under the
centralized command of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee
and the Central Military Commission. This is similar to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
US Department of Defense report of 2020 indicates that China has more than doubled
the number of large coast guard ships over 1,000 tons, from about 60 in 2010 to over 130.
The new law and Chinese bid to take over Whitsun Reef seem to
have compelled the Philippines to take a more harder stance against China.
A mutual defense treaty signed in 1951 remains in force, stipulating that both
US-the Philippines would help defend each other if either were attacked by a third party.
Speaking to reporters on 21 Nov,
Kamala Harris reaffirmed Washington’s “unwavering” commitment to the pact.
“We must reiterate always that we stand with you in defense of rules and norms,” Harris said,
adding that any attack on Philippine vessels in
the South China Sea would invoke mutual US defense commitments.
While Manila has lot to gain , the Washington will also get a major
foothold in the strategic area, that has close proximity with both Taiwan and Japan.