#Philippines drops a Typhon missile gauntlet on #China - Asia Times, Richard Heydarian
China warns US missile system’s deployment will ‘destabilize’ region while Filipino defense chief wants to host the weapon ‘forever’.
The Philippines and China are staging dueling patrols and exercises this week in the South China Sea, the latest maneuvers in their ever-escalating maritime disputes. But recent moves on land threaten to tilt their tensions to a dangerous new level.
In what could evolve into a Cuban-like missile crisis, Manila recently announced it would “indefinitely” host America’s state-of-the-art Typhon missile systems, a mid-range weapon the US could bring to bear in any conflict with China over Taiwan.
Despite strong opposition by China, and initial denials by Filipino officials, there are rising indications that the Philippine military intends to keep the much-vaunted American missile systems on its soil for the long term, or even “forever”, as military chief Romeo Brawner recently quipped.
As one senior Filipino official bluntly told the media, the Philippine government wants to give China “sleepless nights” by keeping the missile system on its soil.
The Typhon saga began earlier this year ahead of annual Philippine-US joint Balikatan exercises, the biggest ever staged.
In a “historic first”, the Pentagon deployed the newly developed missile system – capable of launching missiles including SM-6 missiles and Tomahawks over 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) – to mark a “significant step in our partnership with the Philippines.”
When China started to criticize the deployment, both American and Filipino officials were quick to downplay the move as a purely logistical exercise. In July, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi issued a strongly worded statement on the issue while accusing Manila and Washington of provoking a regional arms race.
China’s top diplomat reiterated the point during his recent trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where he warned that US deployment of intermediate-range missiles in the Philippines “undermines regional peace and stability.”
During Yi’s conversations with his South Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, in New York last weekend, the Chinese envoy reiterated that the deployment of any American weapons systems capable of striking China “is not in the interests of regional countries.”
Years earlier, China pressured South Korea against hosting America’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Having ultimately failed to dissuade Seoul, Beijing now likely fears that Manila may seek to host yet another high-impact US weapons system.
In September, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said Yi expressed China’s “very dramatic” concern about the Typhon’s deployment to the Philippines during talks in Laos on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings with Asian and Western countries.
What makes the Philippine deployment particularly sensitive to China is its proximity to Taiwan.
Beijing was already peeved with Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s decision to grant US forces rotational access to its northernmost military facilities close to Taiwan’s southern shores under the two sides’ expanded Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
The deployment of key military assets to geographically dispersed locations across the Philippines fits with the US Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) operating concept.
As Asia Times correspondent Gabriel Honrada argued earlier in these pages, “The US can spread Typhon sensors and weapons across multiple EDCA sites, employ longer-range and unmanned systems and use resilient communication links to maintain coordination and adaptability in a contested environment.”
In the event of an all-out conflict over Taiwan, Philippine-based Typhon missile systems could prove singularly crucial since they would allow the Pentagon to hit mainland and maritime Chinese bases targeting American naval assets in the area.
The geostrategic stakes are clearly high for both superpowers. Earlier, in an apparent bid to tamp down diplomatic tensions with China, US and Philippine officials signaled that the Typhon missile system would be removed from the Philippines by September. But the latest reports suggest that the weapon system will remain until at least next year’s Balikatan exercises scheduled for April
While Beijing is primarily concerned with a potential confrontation with Washington over Taiwan, Manila is focused on its own strategic interests. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Brawner Jr has repeatedly turned down America’s offer of direct assistance amid recent tussles in the South China Sea.
At the same time, he has openly called for the long-term deployment as well as acquisition of advanced American weapons systems. Under the newly launched Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC), the Southeast Asian nation is seek to rapidly enhance its defensive capabilities vis-à-vis China.
“Not only the Typhon but also other missile systems kasi kailangan natin ng (because we need) comprehensive air defense and maritime defense systems,” Brawner Jr toldreporters on the sidelines of the recent 5th Asian Defense, Security and Crisis Management Exhibition and Conference (ADAS 2024).
“ADAS 2024 provides an important venue for enhancing our defense and security capabilities by exploring cutting-edge technologies and fostering collaboration with international partners,” he added, signaling Manila’s growing appetite for not only hosting but also operating increasingly sophisticated NATO-grade weapons systems.
According to recent satellite imagery, the Laoag International Airport in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, which also happens to be the hometown of President Marcos Jr, is currently hosting the Typhon system. The northern Philippine base is less than a 30-minute flight away from southern Taiwanese cities.
“If ever it will be pulled out, it is because the objective has been achieved and it may be brought (back) in after all the repairs or the construction would have been done,” an anonymous senior Filipino official told Reuters. “We want to give [China] sleepless nights,” the official added.
“If it were up to me, if I were given the choice, I would like to have the Typhon missile system here in the Philippines forever because we need it for our defense,” Philippine top general Brawner Jr told media last week while emphasizing that he has not yet received a definitive response from the Pentagon.
https://asiatimes.com/2024/10/philippines-d...ntlet-on-china/
Oct 7 2024, 10:43 AM
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