Two long-standing partners of the Pacific edge are choosing to bind their militaries more tightly, as the Philippines and Australia move toward a new defence agreement that would allow joint drills to happen more often. The announcement, made in Manila, arrives in the middle of an exercise already underway and amid a sea that has grown crowded and quarrelsome, where one great power claims nearly everything and a court ruling from a decade ago has not settled the matter. Its meaning lies less in any single vessel than in the slow arithmetic of trust and deterrence, where each new agreement is b
Philippines and Australia Move to Sign New Defence Pact Amid Rising South China Sea Tensions
Manila cannot control China's actions, so it is building deterrence
Mark
So what exactly was announced on Friday?
Mimi
Two defence ministers, Teodoro and Marles, said a new enhanced defence cooperation agreement is being worked on and should be signed next year. The headline promise is more frequent joint drills.
Mark
And the infrastructure piece?
Mimi
Marles said it would support defence infrastructure in the Philippines, with projects at five locations. That's all we have on it.
Luke
Worth stressing that. No sites, no costs, no description of what gets built. Five is the only number, and it came with no detail.
Mark
Why does the timing matter?
Mimi
The ALON exercise started August 15 and runs 15 days, with a joint sail involving Philippine, Australian and Canadian navies. The Philippine military also reported more Chinese vessels near Second Thomas Shoal.
Luke
That report is from the Philippine military. The coverage doesn't say how many vessels or offer an independent count, and it doesn't claim the Chinese presence was a direct reaction to the drills. It says the two coincided.
Mark
Teodoro used strong language.
Mimi
He said China's actions merit condemnation and have widened its trust deficit, but also admitted Manila can't control what China does unilaterally. Hence the emphasis on deterrence.
Luke
And China hasn't answered yet. Its embassy in Manila hadn't replied when this was reported, so we only have one side's account so far. The pact itself is also not signed; next year is a target, not a done deal.
O Pulso
- Chinese vessels are gathering near Second Thomas Shoal just as allied warships sail through the South China Sea together.
- A collision between two Chinese ships the previous week has left the waters feeling even more brittle.
- Defence ministers Marles and Teodoro are racing to sign a pact next year that would make joint drills routine rather than occasional.
- Manila is pressing for deterrence while promising infrastructure at five sites whose locations remain undisclosed.
- Beijing has so far stayed silent, and the coming weeks will show whether that silence turns into a sharp response.
Two long-standing partners of the Pacific edge are choosing to bind their militaries more tightly, as the Philippines and Australia move toward a new defence agreement that would allow joint drills to happen more often. The announcement, made in Manila, arrives in the middle of an exercise already underway and amid a sea that has grown crowded and quarrelsome, where one great power claims nearly everything and a court ruling from a decade ago has not settled the matter. Its meaning lies less in any single vessel than in the slow arithmetic of trust and deterrence, where each new agreement is both a promise to one another and a message to a third party that has not yet spoken.
The defence ministers of the Philippines and Australia announced in Manila that their governments are working toward a new defence agreement, to be signed next year. Richard Marles and Gilberto Teodoro made the announcement at a joint press conference during a ministerial meeting, presenting the pact as a way to make joint military drills more frequent and to make the two militaries better at working together.
Marles also said the agreement would support defence infrastructure in the Philippines, with projects planned at five locations. He did not say where those sites are or what would be built. Teodoro was more direct about the reasons: he described China's conduct in the South China Sea as worthy of condemnation, said it has deepened what he called a trust deficit, and acknowledged that the Philippines cannot control Beijing's unilateral actions alone, which is why deterrence must be built.
The timing sharpened the moment. A joint exercise called ALON, which began on August 15 and runs 15 days, includes a sail through the South China Sea by the navies of the Philippines, Australia and Canada. Meanwhile the Philippine military reported more Chinese vessels around Second Thomas Shoal, and the waters were already tense after a collision between two Chinese ships the week before.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The wider dispute carries heavy stakes: China claims almost the entire sea, a route carrying more than $3 trillion in shipborne trade each year, and it rejects the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that found its claims had no legal basis. What comes next is whether the pact and its drills draw a response from Beijing.
The defence ministers of the Philippines and Australia said on Friday that their governments are working toward a new defence agreement, to be signed next year. The announcement came in Manila, where Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles was attending a ministerial meeting with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro.
Teodoro described the planned enhanced defence cooperation pact as a way to allow more frequent joint military drills. The stated aims are to improve the two militaries' ability to operate together and to strengthen deterrence in the region.
Marles added that the agreement would also support the development of defence infrastructure in the Philippines, with projects planned at five locations. He did not say where those sites are or what would be built. Both men spoke at a joint press conference.
The announcement comes as the two allies have deepened their security engagement. They have said they are responding to what they call increasingly aggressive Chinese activity in the South China Sea.
The timing overlapped with a live exercise. Ahead of Marles' visit, the Philippine military reported more Chinese vessels around the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, while joint drills between Canberra and Manila were under way. That exercise, called ALON, a Filipino word for wave, began on August 15 and runs 15 days. It included a joint sail through the South China Sea by the navies of the Philippines, Australia and Canada. The waters were already tense after a collision between two Chinese vessels the previous week.
Teodoro was blunt about Beijing's conduct. He said China's actions in the South China Sea are a matter not only of concern but of condemnation, and that they have widened what he called China's trust deficit. He acknowledged that the Philippines cannot control China's unilateral activities, and said that this is why deterrence needs to be built.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a route for more than $3 trillion in shipborne commerce each year. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in a case brought by the Philippines that China's claims had no legal basis. China rejects that ruling, and the dispute has since produced a series of confrontations at sea and in the air between the two countries.
What to watch now is whether the pact's signing, and the drills it is meant to expand, draw a Chinese response, particularly with activity already rising near Second Thomas Shoal.
Citações Notáveis
China's actions in the South China Sea are a matter not only of concern but of condemnation, and have widened its trust deficit.— Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro
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