Latest news with #ArmedForcesofthePhilippines
Economic Times
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Economic Times
Hegseth says US will stand by Indo-Pacific allies against 'imminent' threat of China
AP FILE - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth holds a joint press conference with and Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Philippines, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon, File) US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reassured allies in the Indo-Pacific on Saturday that they will not be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressures from China. He said Washington will bolster its defenses overseas to counter what the Pentagon sees as rapidly developing threats by Beijing, particularly in its aggressive stance toward Taiwan. China has conducted numerous exercises to test what a blockade would look like of the self-governing island, which Beijing claims as its own and the U.S. has pledged to defend. China's army "is rehearsing for the real deal," Hegseth said in a keynote speech at a security conference in Singapore. "We are not going to sugarcoat it - the threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent." China has a stated goal of having its military be able to take Taiwan by force if necessary by 2027, a deadline that is seen by experts as more of an aspirational goal than a hard war deadline. But China also has developed sophisticated man-made islands in the South China Sea to support new military outposts and built up highly advanced hypersonic and space capabilities, which are driving the U.S. to create its own space-based "Golden Dome" missile defenses. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a global security conference hosted by the International Institute for Security Studies, Hegseth said China is no longer just building up its military forces to take Taiwan, it's "actively training for it, every day." Hegseth also called out China for its ambitions in Latin America, particularly its efforts to increase its influence over the Panama Canal. He repeated a pledge made by previous administrations to bolster U.S. military capabilities in the region to provide a more robust deterrent. While both the Obama and Biden administrations had also committed to pivoting to the Pacific - and even established new military agreements throughout the region - a full shift has never been realized. Instead, U.S. military resources from the Indo-Pacific have been regularly pulled to support military needs in the Middle East and Europe, especially since the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. In the first few months of President Donald Trump's second term, that's also been the case. The Indo-Pacific nations caught in between have tried to balance relations with both the U.S. and China over the years. Beijing is the primary trading partner for many, but is also feared as a regional bully, in part due to its increasingly aggressive claims on natural resources such as critical fisheries. Hegseth cautioned that playing both sides, seeking U.S. military support and Chinese economic support, carries risk. "Beware the leverage the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) seeks with that entanglement," Hegseth said. China usually sends its own defense minister to this conference - but in a snub this year to the U.S. and the erratic tariff war Trump has ignited with Beijing, its minister Dong Jun did not attend, something the U.S. delegation said it intended to capitalize on. "We are here this morning. And somebody else isn't," Hegseth said. He urged countries in the region to increase defense spending to levels similar to the 5% of their gross domestic product European nations are now pressed to contribute. "We must all do our part," Hegseth said. It's not clear if the U.S. can or wants to supplant China as the region's primary economic driver. But Hegseth's push follows Trump's visit to the Middle East, which resulted in billions of dollars in new defense agreements. Hegseth said committing U.S. support for Indo-Pacific nations would not be based on any conditions on local governments aligning their cultural or climate issues with the West.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Satellite Imagery Captures Chinese Aircraft Carrier in Contested Waters
Satellite imagery appears to have captured a Chinese aircraft carrier transiting waters near the Philippines and Taiwan-both allies and partners of the United States-in the Pacific. The Taiwanese Defense Ministry confirmed to local media that the Chinese aircraft carrier CNS Liaoning was off Taiwan's southeast coast. Newsweek has reached out to both the Chinese Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for comment by email. The Liaoning has been underway since leaving its home port on China's Yellow Sea coast over the weekend. It sailed southward into the East China Sea, later transiting the Miyako Strait near Japan's southwestern islands, and arrived in the Philippine Sea on Tuesday. The aircraft carrier is part of China's naval fleet of more than 370 vessels, the largest in the world by hull count. China has been employing its navy to further expand its military reach and presence, challenging America's naval dominance in the Pacific Ocean. Facing China's rapid naval buildup, the U.S. aims to restrict the East Asian power's access to the broader Pacific Ocean in a future conflict by using the so-called First Island Chain-a maritime containment strategy involving U.S.-aligned Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. Damien Symon, an open-source intelligence expert, posted a satellite image on X (formerly Twitter) showing the Liaoning underway in the Philippine Sea, approximately 430 nautical miles (494 miles) southeast of Taiwan, accompanied by two escorting ships on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a Chinese military observer, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, told Newsweek that satellite imagery indicated the Liaoning-led naval task group was 290 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of the Philippines' Luzon Island on Wednesday. It remains unclear whether the Chinese navy had dispatched the aircraft carrier and its strike group for exercises in the western Pacific Ocean. Taiwanese media have claimed that the Chinese military may be about to conduct drills in waters east of Taiwan starting on Friday. While the Liaoning-China's first operational aircraft carrier-was underway, the country's second aircraft carrier, CNS Shandong, has yet to return to its home port on Hainan Island in the South China Sea since leaving around Monday, according to another satellite image. Taiwan Security Monitor, a research initiative at George Mason University in Virginia, wrote in a post on X that both of the Chinese commissioned aircraft carriers are now at sea. The dual Chinese aircraft carrier deployment comes as two American carriers were reported to be underway simultaneously in the western Pacific Ocean. USS Nimitz was operating in the South China Sea, while its sister ship, USS George Washington, was operating near Japan. Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday: "What I can tell you is that China's military vessels' activities in relevant waters are fully consistent with international law and international practice." Colonel Su Tung-wei, deputy head of the Taiwanese Defense Ministry's General Staff Operations and Planning Department, said on Wednesday: "We will also react accordingly to safeguard national security." The Pentagon's Chinese military power report 2024 wrote: "The [People's Republic of China] is in the beginning stages of operating its 'multi-carrier force.'" It was not immediately clear whether the two Chinese aircraft carriers would conduct joint operations in either the South China Sea or the Philippine Sea to stage a show of force. Related Articles Marco Rubio Announces New Plan to Revoke Chinese Student VisasChina's Military Presence Grows on Doorstep of New U.S. PartnerU.S. Ally Looks to Buy Chinese J-35 Stealth JetsNew Chinese Military Technology Could Defeat Trump's 'Golden Dome' 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
GMA Network
3 days ago
- Business
- GMA Network
Babe Romualdez: F-16s on Philippines' wishlist but land-based weapons a priority
'The F-16 will continue to be part of the overall plan, perhaps, in the future. But as of now, as I said, our priority is more on land-based type of defense capabilities,' Romualdez told selected journalists from Japan and the Philippines on a reporting tour of the US funded by the US State Department. WASHINGTON - The Philippines is hoping to acquire fighter jets like the F-16s being offered by the United States, but will prioritize land-based weapons that are more affordable for its national defense, Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said Tuesday. The Philippines is working with the US and Lockheed Martin Corp., the Bethesda, Maryland-based aircraft manufacturer, to determine how it can finance the major F-16 acquisition. Romualdez, however, said, 'We're really looking at other items that are, in view of our national defense strategy, more important than the F-16s.' 'The F-16 will continue to be part of the overall plan, perhaps, in the future. But as of now, as I said, our priority is more on land-based type of defense capabilities,' Romualdez told selected journalists from Japan and the Philippines on a reporting tour of the US funded by the US State Department. The Philippines is the oldest treaty ally of the United States in Asia and both have boosted defense ties under former President Joe Biden and the current Trump administration in the face of China's increasing aggressive actions in the disputed West Philippine Sea. The U.S. has helped in efforts to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines for years aside from staging large-scale combat-readiness exercises every year, including the Balikatan military exercises that has increasingly focused on strengthening the Armed Forces of the Philippines' capability to defend the country's territorial interests in the disputed waters. 'As I said the F-16, it's an aspiration that we've had for many, many years. There are other offers from other countries like the Gripen, which is actually made in Sweden. But there's a question of affordability,' Romualdez said. The US State Department announced Washington's approval of the major F-16s sale following the visit in Manila of Sec. Pete Hegseth, who announced the Trump administration's support to help modernize the AFP's firepower and military capabilities to help deter China's growing aggression in the South China Sea. Hegseth also reaffirmed the Trump administration's "iron-clad" commitment to its obligations under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, which obliges the allies to help defend one another in case of an external attack. Washington's assistance is crucial to Manila's efforts to modernize its armed forces, one of Asia's most underfunded, as it seeks to strengthen its maritime capability amid an increasingly aggressive China, which has repeatedly harassed and threatened Philippine vessels and aircraft in the West Philippine Sea. 'That's the reason why we tell our friends here in the United States that our economic prosperity and our economic security are tied into our defense security,' Romualdez said. 'If we have the wherewithal we will be able to bring our country's armed forces into being a real partner to the United States, which I think is what the administration of President Trump would like to see - that countries should be able to defend themselves in partnership with the United States,' he said. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro is conducting an overall study to determine 'what is really the best in terms of the capabilities that we need,' Romualdez said. 'At the end of the day, of course, depending on our resources, and the capability to be able to finance these purchases in the long-term, that's what's important,' Romualdez said. –NB, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
4 days ago
- General
- GMA Network
PH National Flag Day marked with simultaneous flag-raising ceremony
The Philippines on Wednesday celebrated the National Flag Day with simultaneous flag-raising ceremonies in over a thousand sites across the country. At Rizal Park in Manila, representatives from government agencies, advocacy groups, and other organizations gathered for the raising of the 'biggest flag' on the 'highest flagpole.' 'We have finally surpassed the 690 nationwide locations who joined us in 2019 to raise our flags simultaneously at 8 a.m.,' Salute To A Clean Flag founder Monique Cornelio Pronove said during the event. 'Today, there were 1,122 privately owned buildings and estates across the Philippines in Luzon, in Visayas, and in Mindanao who joined our government to raise our flags simultaneously today,' she added. The Philippine flag at Rizal Park was hoisted by Armed Forces of the Philippines personnel as musical theater actor Leo Valdez performed the national anthem, Lupang Hinirang. Arturo Valdez, who led the first-ever Philippine expedition team to climb Mount Everest in 2006, recited the Panunumpa sa Watawat, while actor John Arcilla recited the Salute To A Clean Flag Manifesto. National Parks Development Committee Cecille Lorenzana-Romero recalled the history of the Philippine flag and pointed out that 'our fight did not end in Kawit, it continues today.' 'Look around you and you will see Filipinos who still fight, not on battlefields but in their daily lives. Our freedom was hard won, but it's also hard kept. And many still protect it with quiet courage and sacrifice,' she said. 'So as you gaze upon the flag today, think of every Filipino as a thread in its fabric. Each of us helped build and hold this nation together,' she added. Presidential Proclamation 374 declares May 28 as National Flag Day to commemorate the day the Philippine flag was first raised after the Philippine Revolutionary Army defeated Spanish forces in the battle in Alapan in Imus, Cavite in 1898. Executive Order 179 by then-President Fidel Ramos set the extension of the commemoration of the National Flag Day until June 12. —VAL, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
4 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
AFP chief Brawner: No coup shall happen, not on my watch
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. on Wednesday said there will be no coup d'état under his leadership amid speculations of internal unrest within the military. In a statement, Brawner reaffirmed the 'unwavering commitment' of the organization to the Constitution and the chain of command. 'As long as I serve as Chief of Staff, no coup shall happen. Not on my watch. We will not be shaken by rumor, nor outmaneuvered by noise,' he said. 'Let me reassure our countrymen that the AFP remains strong, professional, and firmly loyal to the chain of command. We are a disciplined institution, grounded in respect for the Constitution, civilian authority, and the rule of law,' he added. Brawner called out those who continue to stir discord and disinformation. He warned them of 'broader consequences' of undermining the AFP. 'To those who persist in creating instability, I offer this not as a rebuke, but as a reminder. Do not sow doubt among the very ranks that safeguard our democracy. Do not attempt to influence or mislead soldiers who serve quietly, honorably, and with steadfast loyalty to our Constitution and our country,' he said. 'Frustration is not a license to target your protectors. Attacking the Armed Forces with baseless narratives only threatens to weaken an institution that exists to defend us all,' he added. Brawner encouraged the public to be discerning and differentiate real concerns from baseless speculations, especially about public institutions and national security. 'Let us not be adversaries in the same nation we all claim to love. Let us be better stewards of our words, platforms, and influence, because patriotism is not measured by how loudly we speak, but by how wisely we choose unity over division, and nation-building over disruption,' he said.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
