The Philippines has asked the US to provide military “assistance” in resupplying and rotating Manila’s forces in the South China Sea because they face harassment from regional power China, a military spokesman said today.
The request was made the previous day by Philippine Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin in a meeting with Admiral Harry Harris, head of US Pacific Command, according to Colonel Restituto Padilla.
“It was a specific request on the part of the secretary of national defence to Admiral Harris to get their assistance in... resupplying and rotating troops,” Padilla told AFP.
“They just took our requests and the details still have to be discussed,” Padilla said, adding that the American officer made no commitment.
Padilla said the request pertained in particular to the “West Philippine Sea”, Manila’s term for the South China Sea.
Harris, who oversees American forces across Asia, met yesterday with Philippine President Benigno Aquino. Today, he visited the Philippine military command on the western island of Palawan, the closest landmass to the South China Sea.
A Philippine military statement said his visit was to familiarise himself with “the situation on the ground”.
In his meetings, Harris had outlined a freshly <g data-gr-id="23">drafted</g> Pentagon report highlighting issues in the South China Sea, Padilla said earlier. Tensions have risen in recent years between the Philippines and China due to conflicting territorial claims over these waters, including the Spratly islands located there.