Philippines Boosts Military Presence in Islands Facing Taiwan

The Philippines' defense chief has ordered the military to boost the number of troops stationed at the northernmost islands near Taiwan to fortify Manila's territorial defense capabilities.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro also called for the development of more structures on the remote Batanes islands, less than 200 km (125 miles) from Taiwan, during his visit to naval facilities there Tuesday, the Philippine navy said.

"Starting 2024, the operational tempo for the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) will be higher," Teodoro said, according to a Philippine navy statement issued late Tuesday.

The Bashi Channel between those islands and Taiwan is considered a choke point for vessels moving between the western Pacific and the contested South China Sea. The Chinese military regularly sends ships and aircraft through the channel, Taiwan's defense ministry has said.

In November, the militaries of the Philippines and the United States launched joint patrols off the waters of the Philippines' northernmost point.

Batanes is the "spearhead of the Philippines as far as the northern baseline is concerned", said Teodoro, who was accompanied by the AFP and Navy chiefs during his visit.

Teodoro's visit "signifies a pivotal moment in our nation's commitment to territorial defense and national security", the Philippine navy said.

Reuters reported in August that the U.S. military was in talks to develop a civilian port in Batanes, a move that would boost American access to strategically located islands facing Taiwan.

The Philippines in 2023 almost doubled the number of its military bases that U.S. forces can access, including three facing Taiwan. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has said those moves were "stoking the fire" of regional tensions.

Batanes served as one of the training sites during last year's joint military exercises, known as Balikatan, which involved more than 17,000 Filipino and American troops, making it the biggest ever edition of the annual military drills.

The Philippines and Vietnam signed agreements a week ago to prevent incidents in the South China Sea and broaden cooperation between their coast guards in a growing alliance that will likely be frowned upon by China, which claims virtually the entire waters.

The agreements, along with discussions on enhancing information-sharing and training exchanges between the Vietnamese and Philippine militaries, were forged during a visit to Hanoi by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Both sides agreed to boost trade and investment and signed a key deal on rice.

The Philippines and Vietnam have had especially tense confrontations with China in the strategic waterway and key route for global trade in recent years. Territorial faceoffs in the high seas between Chinese and Philippine ships intensified last year, fueling fears of a wider conflict that could involve Washington, Manila’s longtime treaty ally.

Although Chinese and Philippine officials agreed earlier last month at a meeting in Shanghai to take steps to deescalate tensions, Marcos while in Hanoi raised his concerns over the long-seething disputes and cited increasingly aggressive actions by the Chinese coast guard.

"There continue to be … unilateral and illegal actions that violate our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction and exacerbate tensions in the South China Sea," Marcos said in a call to Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Transcripts of his remarks were issued by the presidential office in Manila.

The Philippine president cited a water cannon assault by the Chinese coast guard that damaged a Philippine vessel on Dec. 10 near the Second Thomas Shoal and a similar incident in another disputed area, the Scarborough Shoal.

"We are firm in defending our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction against any provocations," Marcos said. "But at the same time, we are also seeking to address these issues with China through peaceful dialogue and consultations as two equal sovereign states."

Marcos said that in his talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in the U.S. last November, he stressed "that need to deescalate tensions in the South China Sea, to which he agreed."