Canada and the Philippines are pushing to negotiate an agreement that would allow their forces to hold larger-scale exercises in the South China Sea.
Canada and the Philippines are in the final stages of negotiating a major defense agreement that would allow their forces to hold larger-scale exercises in the South China Sea, Canadian Ambassador to Manila David Hartman said.
Speaking on the evening of February 7 aboard the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ottawa, which is visiting Manila, Ambassador Hartman stressed that Canada and the Philippines are in the final stages of negotiating a visiting forces agreement. This agreement will allow the US to participate more substantively in bilateral and multilateral exercises and training activities with the Philippines and its allies in the region. According to Ambassador Hartman, the frigate HMCS Ottawa will participate in a joint exercise next week.
Canada signed a defense cooperation agreement with the Philippines last year. Another agreement signed in Ottawa in 2023 gives the Philippines access to data from Canada’s “Dark Vessel Detection System,” which uses satellite technology to track illegal vessels even when they turn off their transponders.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reaffirmed Washington’s “unwavering” commitment to its mutual defense treaty with the Philippines in a phone call with his counterpart in Manila, amid geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea.
On February 5, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. spoke by phone amid geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea. A Pentagon statement on the call said that “the leaders discussed the importance of re-establishing deterrence in the South China Sea” and the need to enhance the “capabilities and capabilities” of the Philippine military. The statement said Mr. Hegseth “reaffirmed the United States’ unwavering commitment to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty and its importance in maintaining a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.”