The administration of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. named three bases where US military will be stationed over the long term, giving the Pentagon a greater foothold in the region as the Communist Chinese government threatens Taiwan.
NBC News reports Marcus signed the pact, which expands US presence from five current posts to nine, over the objections of China, the archipelagic country’s second-largest trading partner after the United States. Two of the newly-announced locations–Philippine navy base in Santa Ana and an international airport in Lal-lo in the northern province of Cagayan–provide American forces strategic locations from which they can defend allies in Taiwan.