WASHINGTON — The U.S. is expanding it military presence in Asia, in a string of moves aimed at countering Beijing and reassuring Indo-Pacific allies that America will stand with them against threats from China and North Korea.
The U.S. actions stretch from Japan to the Solomon Islands. And they involve more and increasingly advanced military exercises in the region and additional troop rotations in key areas facing the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. In some cases, they also could provide logistical support in the event of any conflict with China, specifically in defense of the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own.
The announcements in recent weeks have triggered angry responses from both China and North Korea. And they come as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to go to China next week in what will be the first visit by a Cabinet-level official in the Biden administration.
Philippines
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on his seventh trip to Asia during his two years in office, announced an agreement with the Philippines on Thursday that gives the U.S. access to four more military camps in the Southeast Asian country.
He called it a “big deal” even though it doesn’t establish a permanent U.S. military presence, which is prohibited under the Philippine Constitution. What it does do, however, is give U.S. troops — rotating in and out of the Philippines — a…
