MANILA, Philippines – In his first visit to Manila and the Indo-Pacific, United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seems to have said all the right things.
During a call to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the former Fox and Friends Weekend co-host namechecked the “threats from the communist Chinese” that made credible deterrence in the region especially “necessary.”
After mentioning that a $500-million pledge for foreign military financing would go on as planned, Hegseth went on to announce the deployment of additional advanced capabilities, including a new anti-ship missile system; “bilateral special operation forces training” in the northernmost province of Batanes; and the prioritization of “bilateral defense industrial cooperation.”
“Our partnership not only continues today, but we are doubling down on that partnership, and our ironclad alliance has never been stronger,” he said following a bilateral meeting with Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
Hegseth, of course, builds on a relationship that is decades-old and freshly off a “hyperdrive” under the previous Democrat administration.
“I can assure you, and I can assure all those watching, this is just the beginning of what will continue to be [an] incredibly fruitful alliance. So together, we’ll encourage our other partners and allies in the region to step up their efforts and their cooperation to increase defense capabilities and strengthen deterrence,” said Hegseth, in a press conference with Teodoro.
It was as if Hegseth had read the minds of security, defense, and diplomatic officials in Manila and in the region.
There had been much apprehension in the region — jitters, even — that the US would treat its allies in the region with the same disdain it’s shown traditional partners like Ukraine and the European Union.
There was no coldness or animosity — in public or private — during Hegseth’s visit to Manila. He and Marcos even shared a quick laugh, partly at the expense of Teodoro.
“He was worried that he might have to keep up,” quipped Marcos, after noting that the American defense chief exercised that morning with Filipino and American soldiers.
Over and over, Hegseth emphasized the importance not just of Manila, but Washington’s traditional partners and allies in the region. In Japan, after a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani Gen, Hegseth spoke of the alliance between Tokyo and Washington as “the cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific.”
Asked “to what extent [does Hegseth] think Japan should increase its defense spending” in Tokyo, the US defense chief said: “We’re confident that Japan will make the correct determination of what capabilities are needed inside our alliance to make sure we’re standing shoulder to shoulder. They have been a model ally and we have no doubt that will continue.”
Has the region dodged the worst of US President Donald Trump’s transactional impulses when it comes to diplomacy and defense?
Yes, and no. Because as warm and chummy as Hegseth was in Manila and then in Tokyo, all the quiet parts were said out loud: that cooperation was especially important in the face of an aggressive “communist China.”
And Teodoro? Well, he’s been saying the same things.
“I would like to categorically state that what is at stake in our unilateral and bilateral activities is not merely the security of the United States or of the Philippines. We are facing a common threat, which now is the overreach of the Communist Party of China. So the Indo-Pacific, the rule of international law, freedom of navigation and freedom…individual personal freedoms are what are at stake here,” said Marcos’ defense chief.
It won’t take long for an “accelerated” bilateral relationship, especially when it comes to defense and security, to have physical proof in the Philippines.
In the upcoming Balikatan 2025, or the flagship bilateral military joint exercise between the US and the Philippines, the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) will make its debut on Philippine shores.
The anti-missile system is a “mountable, ground-based anti-ship missile launcher” with a range of 100 nautical miles. The system, according to the US Marines, brings together long-trusted sub-systems — the Joint Lightweight Tactical Vehicle Chassis (over which it is mounted), the Naval Strike Missile, and the Fire Control System.
That the US Marines’ NMESIS is coming is news enough — but recall that the Typhon Strategic Mid-Range Fires System is still in the Philippines, much to the chagrin of Manila’s superpower neighbor up north.
“The US needs to get rid of its Cold War mentality, stop creating ideological confrontation, stop sowing tension in the region and discord between its countries, and stop being the disrupter and provocateur in the South China Sea,” said China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun in a briefing on Friday, March 28. (Beijing has yet to react to the NMESIS deployment as of posting.)
“We also call on the Philippines to stop creating instability with US backing, still less seek military confrontation,” added Guo — never mind that it’s China who’s been building an arsenal of weapons. Pentagon estimates from December 2024 foresee Beijing growing its stockpile of nuclear warheads to 1,000 by 2030. Its advanced and longer-range conventional missile systems have also been growing.
And what has been Manila’s response to Washington’s (through Hegseth) open embrace of its Indo-Pacific friends, allies, and partners, as well as Beijing’s warnings over a relationship that’s poised to grow even closer?
“Chinese MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), I think their world view is really, really quite limited. That’s why the robotic quality of their statements. I think that characterizing people who do not appropriate parts of the South China Sea as their own, as they do, the 10-dash line, speaks loudly of themselves rather than others,” said Teodoro, referring to the Chinese foreign ministry’s earlier warning against the Philippines on serving as “willing chess pieces” to a predator, referring to the US.
“We don’t practice propaganda in this country. We practice free speech and democracy. So the Philippines is not a mouthpiece, unlike themselves, who are mouthpieces of Xi Jinping thought. You know [what] the problem is? You will hear me. The United States will hear me. Filipinos will hear me, but 1 billion or more Chinese won’t get to hear what I said,” Teodoro added.
After letting out a quick chuckle, Hegseth said: “Powerful words.”
“President Trump has made it clear we don’t seek war. We don’t seek to nation-build. We don’t seek to use chess pieces and move them around the board. All we seek is peace. All we seek is freedom, and cooperation, and mutual benefit, and we find that in friends, like our friends in the Philippines. But do not mistake our friendship. Do not mistake our belief in peace and our desire for peace, for a lack of resolve. Too many have, and America still stands strong today and will continue into the future.” – Rappler.com