On March 20, Stars and Stripes reported that American military personnel will visit the Philippine island of Batan, which is 120 miles south of Taiwan, to scout future locations for a U.S.-funded port.
According to Philippine Navy spokesman, Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, the “Philippine Navy and the Armed Forces are always preparing for any eventuality across the spectrum of conflict from peace to crisis to wartime”, when asked about the port project.
The port could be used in times of crisis, and disaster response, according to the Philippine Inquirer.
U.S. soldiers and Marines and Filipino troops engaged in cooperative military drills on the island in 2023.
This comes as tensions between the Philippines and China are at a all time high. Cooperation in the form of drills, security agreements and operations between the U.S. and the Philippines have increased in tempo in reaction to growing Chinese regional aggression.
