MANILA (Reuters) – The potential buy of F-16 jets by the Philippines from the US doesn’t hurt the pursuits of any third occasion, together with China, a Philippine safety official stated on Thursday.
Nationwide Safety Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya assured China the deliberate acquisition shouldn’t be meant as a menace to any nation and is merely a part of the Philippines’ efforts to modernize its navy.
“We wish to guarantee the Individuals’s Republic of China that the deliberate procurement of the F-16 fighter jets to the Philippine arsenal doesn’t in any method hurt the curiosity of any third occasion,” Malaya instructed a briefing.
The U.S. Division of Protection’s Protection Safety Cooperation Company stated on Tuesday the State Division had permitted a doable international navy sale to the Philippines of 20 F-16 planes for an estimated price of $5.58 billion.
The plane would increase the Philippine navy’s skill to patrol its territory and enhance interoperability between their militaries, the Pentagon stated.
Malaya stated the U.S. authorities has not formally communicated the approval to the Philippines.
The announcement got here after U.S. Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Manila final week, the place he reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad” dedication to its mutual defence treaty with the Philippines and pledged to deploy advance capabilities to strengthen deterrence towards threats, together with Chinese language “aggression”.
China has expansive territorial claims within the South China Sea that overlap with the unique financial zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.In 2016, a world arbitral tribunal dominated China’s claims don’t have any foundation below worldwide legislation, a ruling Beijing doesn’t recognise.
(Reporting by Mikhail Flores; Enhancing by John Mair)
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