US missile deployments in Philippines signal deeper strategic shift in region

The United States’ plan to expand deployments of advanced missile systems and unmanned platforms in the Philippines is less about hardware than geography and what it signals about Washington’s long-term strategy in the region, analysts said.Announced after the 12th Philippines–US Bilateral Strategic Dialogue this week, the move reflects a steady effort to reinforce the so-called First Island Chain and bolster the US–Philippines alliance’s defensive posture in both the China-sea" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8346" data-entity-type="location">South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.In a statement released after Tuesday’s meeting, the US Embassy in Manila said both countries would “continue and work to increase deployments of US cutting-edge missile and unmanned systems to the Philippines, expand and modernise the Philippines’ civilian and military cyber defence capabilities and ability to detect and disrupt cyber threats”.Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez, who attended the dialogue, said US and Filipino defence officials had discussed the possible deployment this year of upgraded US missile launchers that Manila might later decide to purchase.Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez answers questions from reporters in Manila on February 10. Photo: AP“It’s a kind of system that’s really very sophisticated and will be deployed here in the hope that, down the road, we will be able to get our own,” Romualdez said, as quoted by Associated Press.The announcement builds on earlier deployments that have already drawn sharp protests from Beijing.