The United States will provide the Philippines with $500 million to boost the Philippines’ external defense and modernize its army and coast guard.

AR reported that the assistance is provided against the backdrop of potential aggression by China in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin jointly confirmed the United States’ readiness to help the Philippines in the event of an attack in the Pacific region.

The decision was announced in Manila during talks between the diplomatic and defense ministries of both countries.

“Both of us share concerns about some of the actions that the People’s Republic of China has taken, escalatory actions in the South China Sea, the East China Sea,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken saidю

He and Austin renewed a warning that the U.S. would help defend the Philippines if Filipino forces, ships, and aircraft came under attack in the Pacific.

Progress in negotiations on a proposed military intelligence-sharing pact, the General Security of Military Information Agreement, was announced by Austin, who said that the accord may be concluded later this year.

Under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between Washington and Manila, about $125 million would be used for construction and other improvements in parts of Philippine military bases to be occupied by U.S. forces.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. hailed “very open” communication lines between Washington and Manila, adding that the two countries’ treaty alliance and key issues in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region “are continuously examined and reexamined so we are agile in terms of our responses.”

In April, the Philippine and U.S. military conducted joint three-week military exercises, including naval exercises in the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing are disputing maritime borders.

In 2023, in a disputed part of the South China Sea, Chinese and Philippine coast guards clashed, resulting in a collision between a Chinese and a Philippine ship.

The Chinese coast guard ship blocked and collided with a boat used by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.