MANILA—Donald Trump’s re-election and the formation of a , more hawkish , regional security team had inspired crucial allies to double down on their defence cooperation with America.
Trump has stated on numerous occasions that he anticipates that allies will increase their security spending and more directly contribute to the preservation of the US-led global security order.
The Philippines, which has been constantly resisting China’s confidence in opposite lakes, appears ready to answer that phone.
The Southeast Asian nation is now aiming to acquire the highly-anticipated US Mid-Range Capability ( MRC )” Typhon” missile system after already purchasing supersonic anti-ship missile launchers from India.  ,
Capable of launching both SM-6 and Tomahawk weapons, the Typhon is a smart and land-based weapon system that has a range of up to 2, 500 meters.
That puts China’s military features, including its anti-cruise nuclear missiles (ACBMS ), across both its southeastern regions as well as the South China Sea, nicely within its sights in the event of any emergency.  ,
In the event that China decides to launch dynamic attacks on Taiwan or any other competing applicant state in the South China Sea, the Philippines would be required to provide for any American military intervention.
The Philippines ‘ National Security Advisor Eduardo Ano has made it clear that the country has certainly given a “timeline” for Typhon, which is already stationed in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s home province of Ilocos Norte.
If something, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr has emphasized the government’s “right to get” the program openly in the near future. The US and the US conducted joint military activities in the Philippines earlier this year.
The Philippines is “on monitor to become a true troublemaker in the South China Sea,” according to China’s state-run Global Times newspaper, which has had adverse effects on bilateral relations and local stability.
Eager to improve its own deterrent ability, Manila is unlikely to waver under Beijing’s pressure. The Philippines has instead made more strides to proclaim its claims in nearby waters.
In accordance with international law and the country’s standards in the South China Sea, President Marcos Jr. signed new legislation last year, in line with the Hague’s 2016 administrative court ruling.
China promptly responded by calling the Philippine Ambassador to Beijing and releasing a diagram to support its own claims regarding the tumultuous Scarborough Shoal.
Having already released a “new image” that demarcated China’s “ten-dash line” covering much of the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin, China has now also set geographical locations for 16 basic items around the Philippine-claimed reef, which has been under China’s de facto power since 2012.
” Huangyan Dao]island ] has always been China’s territory”, the Chinese foreign ministry said, using its name for the Scarborough Shoal. The Chinese government’s” a natural action” is in line with international law and accepted accepted customs regarding legal strengthening of marine control.
Manila has consistently warned of a swift response in the event that Beijing reclaims and constructs military installations on or around the feature given the Scarborough Shoal’s closeness to Philippine coasts and military installations in Subic.
According to Yuyuan Tantian, a social media channel affiliated with China’s state broadcaster CGNTN,” we had n’t published]baselines around Scarborough Shoal ] earlier ]because ] China has consistently taken a rational, restrained and responsible approach to handling maritime issues with neighboring countries”.
The Southeast Asian nation is doubling down on its security cooperation with the US as China tightens the rope around Philippine-claimed functions in the sea area.  ,
The Philippines does make the most of its unique landscape, which includes Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the Western Pacific, by purchasing state-of-the-art weapon devices, even though it lacks the funds to purchase ships and cunning fighter jets like another important US friends.
The Typhon’s arrival in the Philippines earlier this year, in preparation for the annual Balikatan tasks, marked the first time a mid-range missile system had been stationed there since the US-Russia Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was disbanded in 2019.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, sounded the alarm earlier this year when he acknowledged how crucial it is for missile systems to determine the Indo-Pacific’s tremendous power struggle.
Both Manila and Washington immediately had reservations about the exact status and operational details of the Typhon’s early-year deployment because of its strategic and diplomatic significance.
The Marcos Jr. leadership has welcomed increased defence cooperation with the West to improve its punishment and keep China’s confidence in check as it continues to show no signs of compromise in the South China Sea.
” We have no established timeline”, Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said lately, making it clear that earlier presentations on the Typhon’s departure from the Philippines were excessive. ” For now, we do n’t plan to withdraw it. We need the Mod missile system for education and enhancing our soldiers ‘ abilities”, he said in a new media meeting.
In anticipation of a potential immediate order, the Philippine Armed Forces have acknowledged that their troops are already receiving training using the MRC app system, particularly in terms of mobility.
The MRC program, according to Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro, “in fact, we intend to have this capacity.” It gives the capability more depth and deterrence, Teodoro said. ” We will not sacrifice our right to acquire it within our territory”, he added.
Top Chinese security experts, including Xu Liping, the director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences ‘ Center for Southeast Asian Studies, have urged the Philippines to “review the local disputes with a rational perspective, acknowledging that the so-called purchase of any weapons may either be beneficial nor have any significance.”
According to Ang Xiao, deputy director of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations ‘ Institute of Maritime Strategy Studies, the Philippines is “playing victim” and relying on the American weapons system because” the Philippines has no other better way to pursue its illegal claim because it lacks sufficient military capacity to carry out provocations.”
The Marcos Jr. administration is committed to modernizing the country’s armed forces and adopting a more assertive stance in neighboring waters, despite its relatively small military arsenal.
Following decades of domestic insurgency operations, the nation released the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept ( CADC ) earlier this year to emphasize its strategic reorientation toward external security threats.
For Teodoro, it’s time for the Philippines, which is expected to allocate as much as US$ 36 billion for military modernization over the next decade, to adopt a more proactive defense posture.
” I do believe that we need to put in a lot of]military ] infrastructure in]our ] eastern seaboard]for ] air and naval basing”, he told media, referring to the country’s plans to place missile systems and advanced military facilities across its eastern shores facing the Western Pacific as well.
The potential acquisition of the Typhon missile system is just one more important step in Manila’s strategy to become a military and geopolitical force in the Indo-Pacific. The incoming Trump 2.0 administration’s will likely find this to be grating in the midst of an intensified great power conflict in Asia.
Follow Richard Javad Heydarian on X at @Richeydarian