MANILA - The United States and the Philippines are preparing to upgrade an airport and naval base near Taiwan, as the security allies boost their defence posture amid tensions with China.

The South-east Asian nation is seeking US help to build a pier and repair an airstrip at Naval Base Camilo Osias in northern Cagayan province. This is one of four new sites that the American military can access under an expanded defence deal that has riled Beijing. 

A fuel storage facility and command centre are being pitched in the Philippines’ Lal-lo Airport, also in Cagayan and near Taiwan.

Ranking military officials led by US Indo-Pacific Command head Admiral John Aquilino and Philippine armed forces chief Lieutenant-General Romeo Brawner Jr inspected the two sites on Wednesday.

“We are not just looking at how we can operate together more efficiently, but also we are looking at the future operations that we are going to conduct,” Lt-Gen Brawner told reporters. “All of these factors should come in as we decide on which projects we’re really going to pursue.”

The two countries have been bolstering their longstanding security alliance, with the Philippines expanding its Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the US earlier in 2023.

The US has allocated more than US$100 million (S$136 million) to develop sites in the Philippines, which has been locked in a territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea. 

The site visits were also a prelude to a meeting between the US and Philippine military officials in Manila on Thursday to discuss ways to deepen security cooperation.

China has opposed the expanded military deal between the US and the Philippines. Beijing’s envoy to Manila, Mr Huang Xilian, in April accused the US of seeking to “take advantage” of the new sites “to interfere in the situation across the Taiwan Strait”.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has said the EDCA sites will not be used for “any offensive action”. BLOOMBERG