The Philippines has offered the United States
eight bases where it can build facilities to store equipment and
supplies under a new security deal, a military spokesman said on
Wednesday, amid rising tension with China over the South China Sea.
Last
year, the Philippines and the United States signed the Enhanced Defence
Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) granting Wasington increased military
presence in its former colony, rotating ships and planes for
humanitarian and maritime security operations.
"The list has been prepared many months ago when we had earlier discussions," Colonel Restituto Padilla told reporters, saying five military airfields, two naval bases and a jungle training camp were offered to the United States.
"These are still subject for approval and we're going to hold final discussions about these areas."
Three
of these bases are on the main island of Luzon in the northern
Philippines, including Clark airfield, a former U.S. air force base, and
two are on the western island of Palawan, near the South China Sea.
The
Americans are also seeking access to three civilian seaports and
airfields on Luzon, including Subic Bay, a former U.S. Navy base, a
senior defence official told Reuters.
Last year,
more than 100 U.S. Navy ships docked in Subic and two advanced
nuclear-powered stealth submarines made visits in the first two weeks of
this year.
"Subic is important to the Americans because it is one of the few areas in the country where they can actually dock safely," said a defence official, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the press.
In
Washington, Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said security cooperation
with the U.S. had become more intertwined amid increasing tension over
the South China Sea.
The Philippines has filed a
protest against China's test flights from an artificial island in the
South China Sea, a foreign ministry spokesman said, describing the
actions as "provocative" and a violation of an existing informal code.
Every
year more than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped through the South
China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, which China
claims almost entirely. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and
Vietnam have rival claims.
China's official Xinhua
news agency, in an English-language commentary, said the EDCA would
only escalate tension and "could push the situation to the brink of
war".
"The deal is groundless because China,
which sticks to a defensive defence policy, has never coerced any
country on the South China Sea issue," it said.