The United States may have already redeployed a permanent military presence in the Philippines amid tensions with China in the South China Sea, reports China's nationalistic Global Times tabloid.
| Not that there's anything wrong with that... |
Philippine president Benigno Aquino III said recently that he was "very close" to completing an agreement to boost the number of US troops allowed into the country as tensions with China continue over islands including the Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal.
The US officially ended its permanent military presence in the Philippines after the closure of the Subic Bay naval base in 1991, and has since rotated around 400 troops into the country each year to aid in counter-terrorism operations as consultants and instructors, according to government sources.
The Global Times, however, says following an investigation at Subic Bay, now an industrial and commercial area known as the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, that it is an open secret that it will only be a matter of time before the US military makes a permanent return to the Philippines.
Global Times reported observing large gray warehouses, power plants, pipelines and docks in the Subic Bay area that appear to be for military use but are far too large and extensive for the Philippines Navy. Its sources also claimed that the premises of the former naval base is being maintained by a "mysterious" foreign company which is said to be preparing for the US Navy to move back in at any time. Under the current negotiations between the two countries, the Philippines may reportedly give the US access to bases including Subic Bay, which is considered an extension of the South China Sea.
A professor in the department of politics at the University of the Philippines, told the Global Times that the US military has already made a permanent return to Subic Bay and is also making a gradual return to the former Clark Air Base in the province of Pampanga, situated about 60 kilometers northwest of Metro Manila. President Aquino has also opened up the country's 25 airports and naval bases to allow the US Navy to enter and leave freely, he added. |