Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that the Trump administration has intended to promote military relations with the Philippines to strengthen the preventive against Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea.
The assurance came in the Philippines during a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Junior, which was part of Hegseth’s visit to Asia to confirm Washington’s “Ironclad” commitment to the region under the administration of President Donald Trump.
Hegseth told Marcos, “The world, especially in the region, in your country, in view of the dangers from communist sugar, in the region, in the region, in the region, in the region, especially in the region.” “Friends need to stand shoulder to shoulder to prevent the struggle, to make sure that there is a free navigation whether you call it the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea.”
“Peace through strength is a very real thing,” Hegseth said, praised the Philippines to stand “very firm” to stand “very firm”.
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The Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., left, Manila, meets US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday, March 28, 2025 at Malakang President Mahal in the Philippines. (AP Photo/Basilio Sep)
China claims that almost the entire South China Sea is a major security and global trade route. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims for resource-rich and busy water, but in the last two years there have been conflicts between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guard and Navy forces.
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The Chinese forces have used powerful water cannons and dangerous maneuvers in the high sea so that Beijing said that China’s water was encroached by the Philippine ships. Chinese military aircraft have also approached the Philippine patrol aircraft at a distance closely distance from the scarboro shole to a warm disputed fishing in the disputed waterway.
Hegseth has pledged Trump’s “The Ironclad Commitment” to a pronouncement of “for the mutual defense treaty and partnership”.
Marcos told the US chief that by visiting the first Philippines in Asia, he “sends a very strong message of our commitment to our two countries to work together to maintain peace in the Indo-Pacific region within the South China Sea.”
“We always understand the principle that the biggest strength for peace in this part of the world will be the United States,” said Marcos.
Two Philippine Coast Guard ships were surrounded by Chinese ships on Monday in a stressful deadlock in the South China Sea, increasing the tension between the two countries from the Philippines to the South China Sea on 24 March 2025. (Through the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)/Anadolu Getty Image)
Hegseth’s visit to the Philippines arrives a month ago when a long-standing partner conducted its greatest annual war exercises, including live-fire drills.
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The visit of the Defense Secretary comes when he returns a signal group home for his resignation for a texting attack plan which included top -level US security officer and editor -in -chief of Atlantic magazine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
