The United States has secured a deal that will grant it access to four military bases in the Philippines.
The move will shore up a critical weakness in the United States’ defensive preparations for potential hostilities in the region from China’s communist regime.
The deal is an expansion of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which also supports combined military training and exercises between the two allies.
It will grant the United States access to four new military bases in the Philippines and also allow for the completion of important projects at five others.
“The addition of these new EDCA locations will allow more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines, and respond to other shared challenges,” a Department of Defense statement said on Feb. 1….