Vol. VI, No. 07 - April 15, 2024
US imperialism laid bare its warmongering intentions in its recently concluded trilateral summit with Japan and the Philippines last April 11-13 culminating in their so-called “joint vision statement” that essentially outlined US war designs in Asia. The said statement indubitably foreshadows intensified US military intervention as the Biden administration furthers its plans to use the Philippine archipelago as its forward military base versus China.
A day before the trilateral summit, US Senators Bill Hagerty and Time Kaine introduced the Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act of 2024 (PERA Act) which aims to provide $2.5 billion in foreign military funding to the Philippines from 2025 to 2029. In reality, the bill is a ‘deal sweetener’ meant to ease in politico-economic restructuring needed to allow more US military bases and greater military presence in Philippine soil.
True enough, in the next few weeks, the US is scheduled to mobilize around 11,000 American troops in the largest ever Balikatan war exercises from April 22 to May 9. The Balikatan war games this year aims to test their so-called “Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept” which purportedly serves the country’s territorial defense scheme but in reality plays to US war plans in the region. During this time, US warships, planes and war equipment will be stationed across the country. The US also seeks to make full use of existing US military bases and facilities in the Philippines covered under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) as part of fulfilling its first island chain strategy to contain China.
US President Biden further threatened China by saying how any form of attack on Philippine waters will invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty it has with the Philippines. Even prior to the summit, key security officials from the US have already made consecutive visits to the Philippines including State Secretary Anthony Blinken who met with Marcos Jr. and representatives of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Department of National Defense.
The US plans to intensify its saber-rattling measures against China by stoking further conflict in the disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea. The US has thus far supported “supply missions” in Ayuningin Shoal precisely to challenge China’s ‘gray tactics’ or aggressive unarmed actions to force China into firing the first shot.
The US is expected to intensify its interventionist efforts in the Philippines as it increasingly faces political isolation due to the waning popularity of its war in Ukraine and because of its reprehensible and continuing support for “Israel’s” genocidal war against Palestine. Conditions are gradually pushing US imperialism to ignite its long-simmering conflict against China especially as Biden seeks a re-election bid on November 5, 2024, and therefore wants to be portrayed as the “defender of the small” countries such as Taiwan and the Philippines versus China.
To this end, the US imperialist propaganda machinery is now working overtime to portray Marcos Jr. as the poster child of its crusade against China similar to how the US used Ukraine’s Zelensky in the US-NATO war against Russia.
In the face of these growing threats brought about by US imperialist war preparations in Asia, the Filipino people must strengthen their resistance against all forms of US military intervention and strongly protest against the Balikatan 2024 war exercises. The US war design in the region will not benefit the Filipino people, but will only drag the Philippines in the middle of a full-fledged inter-imperialist war.