Philippine Defense Minister Defends US Missile System Deployment Amid Tension With China

December 25, 2024 TruthUSA

The CCP should stop its saber-rattling, provocative actions, and interference in other countries’ internal affairs, the Philippine defense minister said.

The Philippine defense minister said his country has the right to deploy a U.S. mid-range missile system, dismissing opposition from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as baseless amid tension between the two neighbors over the South China Sea.

“Any deployment and procurement of assets related to the Philippines’ security and defense fall within its own sovereign prerogative and are not subject to any foreign veto,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro said in a statement on Dec. 24.

He added that deploying the U.S.-made Typhon missile system in the Philippines for joint exercises was “completely legitimate, legal, and beyond reproach.”

Calling it a historic first, the U.S. Army Pacific deployed the Typhon missile system to the Philippines in April as part of the annual bilateral Exercise Salaknib 2024, which was led by the Philippine army and sponsored by the U.S. Army Pacific.

At the time, Brig. Gen. Bernard Harrington, commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific’s first Multi-Domain Task Force, said in a statement that deploying a mid-range capability (MRC) missile system was a “significant step in our partnership with the Philippines.”

The Typhon system, also known as the MRC missile system, is a land-based, ground-launched system that can fire the Standard Missile 6 and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Two Philippine officials said in September that security officials from the two countries had agreed to keep the Typhon missile system in the Philippines indefinitely to boost deterrence.

On Dec. 23, Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, chief of the Philiphone army, said his service was looking into buying weapon systems to protect Manila’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), with the Typhon system among those being considered due to its “functionality,” according to the Philippine News Agency.

There is a plan to acquire a missile system with mid-range capability, Galido said on Monday, adding that “there are negotiations because we see its feasibility and adaptability.”

Teodoro said any improvement in his country’s defense capabilities “is not targeted against specific countries.” He added, “Instead, it is targeted against security risks, threats, and challenges.”

However, the Philippine defense minister criticized the Chinese regime’s aggressive behaviors in the Indo–Pacific.

“If the Chinese Communist Party is truly intent on reducing tensions and instability in the region, they should cease their saber rattling, stop their provocative actions, halt their interference in other countries’ internal affairs, withdraw their illegal presence from the Philippines’ EEZ, and adhere to International Law,” Teodoro said.

Earlier this year, Manila criticized Beijing for ramming its boats, blasting them with water cannons, and firing flares at its aircraft, with most of the incidents occurring around the contested Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea.

In contrast to the Philippines’ “modest capability development,” the Chinese regime is “continuously building up their nuclear arsenal and ballistic missile capability,” Teodoro said.

Additionally, the CCP is also “sponsoring criminal syndicates and subversive organizations beyond their shores” and is “unwilling to uphold human rights in their own country,” he added.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said that Teodoro’s remarks were “filled with ideological bias and based on bloc confrontation and the Cold War mentality.” It also urged Manila to “promptly” remove the Typhon missile system.

According to the latest Pentagon’s annual report on China’s military developments, the regime’s stockpile of operational nuclear warheads is projected to surpass 1,000 by 2030, up from more than 600 as of mid-2024.

“The PRC is developing new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that will significantly improve its nuclear-capable missile forces and will require increased nuclear warhead production,” the report reads, referring to communist China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.

The report also warned about China’s drone modernization, saying that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force “is modernizing and indigenizing its aircraft and unmanned aerial systems rapidly, matching U.S. standards.”

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source link