In Manila visit, Hegseth stresses deterrence ‘considering threats from communist Chinese’
MANILA, Philippines — US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday, March 28, that deterrence was especially important in the region and the Philippines, “considering the threats from the communist Chinese.”
“Peace through strength is a very real thing,” Hegseth said during a courtesy call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacanang. It was his first visit to the Philippines as defense chief of the most powerful military in the world.
“Deterrence is necessary around the world, but specifically in this region, in your country, considering the threats from the communist Chinese,” said Hegseth, who had earlier made stops at the Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii and military bases in Guam.
Only the opening parts of Hegseth’s call on Marcos was livestreamed by state-run RTVM.
“Friends need to stand shoulder to shoulder to deter conflict, to ensure that there’s free navigation, whether you call it the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea, we recognize that your country has stand very firm in that location and in defense of your nation. So we are honored to be here,” added Hegseth.
Hegseth, formerly a co-anchor for Fox and Friends Weekend and an US Army National Guard veteran, is the first Cabinet-level official of the Trump administration to visit the region.
The US is the Philippines’ only treaty-ally, and the two are bound by the decades-old Mutual Defense Treaty.
Speaking still in Malacañang, Hegseth said, referencing a phone conversation with Trump, that the US President “thinks very fondly of this great country, is very committed to the alliance.”
“He and I both want to express the ironclad commitment we have to the partnership — economically, militarily,” he added.
In welcoming the defense chief, Marcos emphasized “how complicated geopolitics has become.”
Marcos said that Manila as Hegseth’s first stop in Asia was a “very strong indication and it’s very it sends a very strong message of the commitment of both our countries to continue to work together to maintain the peace in the Indo-Pacific region.”
The Philippine president, who oversaw a “hyperdrive” in bilteral US-Philippine ties under the previous Biden administration, also said “being a friend to the United States is something that is inherent with most Filipinos.”
Under Marcos, the Philippines has grown more assertive is upholding its sovereign rights and sovereignty claims over the West Philippine Sea, a portion of the South China Sea that includes the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
But superpower Beijing claims almost most of the South China Sea as its own, including features in the West Philippine Sea.
China does not recognize a 2016 Arbitral Award that affirmed the limits and extent of the Philippine EEZ. In certain features in the West Philippine Sea, China has used dangerous manuevers, water cannons, and collisions to stop Philippine missions. – Rappler.com