CNN
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The US military will have access to four more bases in the Philippines under an agreement announced during US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to Manila on Thursday.
In addition, the two allies said that projects at five bases already covered in the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) are nearly complete.
“EDCA is a key pillar of the US-Philippines alliance, which supports joint training, exercises, and interoperability among our forces. Expanding EDCA will make our alliance stronger and more resilient, and will accelerate the modernization of our combined military capabilities,” said a joint declaration.
The announcement did not mention the location of the bases that the US military will be able to access again.
He said only that the new sites “will allow for more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines, and responses to other common challenges,” without specifying what those challenges are.
several US defense officials told CNN Earlier this week, Washington was seeking to expand its reach to bases in the Philippines with an eye on China, as part of an ongoing shift in power posture in the Indo-Pacific region.
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