Hegseth pledges stronger military framework with Philippines, but lacks details – South China Morning Post

Hegseth pledges stronger military framework with Philippines, but lacks details  South China Morning Post

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced additional military cooperation funding for the Philippines and agreed with Manila on efforts for enhanced interoperability between their forces on Wednesday, as Washington sought to strengthen its defence posture along the first island chain. The Pentagon disclosed neither the size of the funding increase nor a timetable for the coordination initiative following Hegseth’s meeting with Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr in Cebu on the sidelines of the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus). In separate talks, Hegseth and Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi agreed to accelerate efforts to use facilities flexibly and run exercises to practise operating from dispersed locations, according to the Pentagon.

The announcements concern a central element of Washington’s regional defence strategy: positioning forces along the island chain stretching from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines to prevent China from achieving its military objectives in a conflict. According to the Pentagon press release, Hegseth announced an increase in his department’s security cooperation funds for the Philippine military for “interoperability along the first island chain”, and agreed with Manila to launch an “alliance command and control modernisation sprint” during his meeting with Philippine defence minister Teodoro. The command and control effort is meant to improve “real-time bilateral coordination and strengthen alliance resilience” between US and Philippine forces, the Pentagon said. However,