U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reaffirmed the United States' unwavering commitment to its decades-old defense treaty with the Philippines during a visit to Manila on Friday, pledging to bolster the alliance with advanced military capabilities in the face of increasing tensions with China. Meeting with Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The Philippines held maritime drills with the United States and Japan inside its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, its military said on Friday, two days after a maritime confrontation with Beijing around a disputed shoal.The drills, which brought together a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft, Philippine Navy ship BRP Andres Bonifacio and a C-90 small plane
The armed forces of five countries conducted joint maritime exercises in a portion of the South China Sea on Saturday as China carried out its own military drills in the disputed waterway.The exercises involving the Philippines, United States, Australia, Japan and - for the first time - New Zealand took place in Manila's exclusive economic zone and sought to improve the militaries'