The US wants to expand access to military bases in the Philippines facing the South China Sea and Taiwan.
The US wants more access to key military bases in the Philippines facing the South China SeaIf you look at a map of East Asia, you can see an arc of US alliances stretching from South Korea and Japan in the north to Australia in the south.
Three of the bases the US is seeking access to could be on Luzon, an island on the northern edge of the Philippines, the only large piece of land close to Taiwan - if you don't count China. The Vietnam war was long over, the Cold War was winding down, and China was as yet a military weakling. So, in 1992, the Americans went home - or at least most of them did.
"We had a live and let live situation in the South China Sea. But in 2012 they tried to seize control of Scarborough Shoal. Then in 2014 they began building the islands. The land grab by China changed the relationship." But this time there will not be thousands of US marines and airmen filling the red-light districts of Olongapo or Angeles city again.Olongapo, close to a US naval base, was a hub for the illegal sex trade in the 1970s
The aim, says Mr Poling, will be to deter further territorial expansion by China in the South China Sea, while also providing a place for the US to watch Chinese military movements around Taiwan.
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