US-Philippines boost ties amid concerns over China's aggressive stance

Washington's top diplomat and defence chief, in Manila for talks Tuesday, will announce USD 500 million in military funding to boost Philippine defences and progress in a proposed military pact, given that China's increasingly aggressive actions in the region will not stop, a Philippine official said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has fortified Manila's decades-old treaty alliance with Washington as hostilities between Philippine and Chinese forces flared since last year in the disputed South China Sea. Marcos has underscored the need for a US military presence for Asian stability and peace.

After the most violent faceoff between Filipino and Chinese forces on June 17 in the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, the countries announced an agreement last week on a temporary arrangement to prevent such clashes in the future.

Philippine forces transported food and other supplies and a fresh batch