U.S. boosts alliance with the Philippines with $500 million funding and pact amid concern over China

U.S. announces $500 million in military funding for the Philippines amid concerns over China's actions in the region.

Washington’s top diplomat and defence chief announced $500 million in new military funding on July 30 to boost the Philippines' external defence and progress on a proposed military intelligence-sharing pact as both allies renewed their concerns over China’s continuing aggressive actions in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has fortified Manila’s decades-old treaty alliance with Washington as hostilities between Philippine and Chinese forces flared since last year in the disputed South China Sea.

Mr. Marcos hailed “very open” communication lines between Washington and Manila, adding that the two countries’ treaty alliance and key issues in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region “are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in terms of our responses.”

Mr. Marcos has underscored the need for a U.S. military presence for Asian stability and peace.

After meeting their Philippine counterparts later, Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin announced the $500 million military funding to help modernize the Philippine military and coast guard and boost security collaboration amid shared concerns over China's assertive actions.

“Both of us share concerns and many other countries in the region share concerns, as well, about some of the actions that the People's Republic of China has taken, escalatory actions in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and elsewhere,” including “coercive methods,” Mr. Blinken said in a joint news conference.

He and Mr. Austin renewed a warning that the U.S. would help defend the Philippines if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under attack in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea.