Philippines says Canada troops pact ready, eyes China deterrence

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The Philippines said its visiting forces agreement with Canada is ready for signing, as the Southeast Asian nation builds a coalition of like-minded nations and deterrence amid tensions with China.

Manila is also negotiating a similar military pact with France, while it’s forging an enhanced defence cooperation with India, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Wednesday at the Reuters NEXT event in Singapore.

The Philippines said in March that it concluded discussions with Canada for the pact, which would facilitate joint exercises between their militaries. Teodoro didn’t provide a timeline for the signing of the agreement.

“It is a coalition of unity that we are creating here, to create some momentum in resilience because of our shared desire for a free and open Indo-Pacific” he said.

Manila, a U.S. treaty ally, has also sealed military agreements with Japan and New Zealand.

The defence partnerships are part of efforts to build deterrence, Teodoro said, amid what he calls “illegal incursions of China” in the South China Sea. Beijing lays sweeping claims over the resource-rich waterway, which Teodoro calls a “major security concern.”

The Philippines has previously accused China of ramming its ships in contested waters, but Beijing has said all its actions were lawful.

“I feel that the prospect of war is not imminent. I believe it is remote. But that would depend entirely upon the internal conditions of China,” Teodoro said.

The Philippines is creating deterrence coupled with diplomacy, the defence chief also said.

“You can’t have diplomacy without a credible deterrent force,” he said. “What we are doing is merely putting a stop, as best as we can, to the illegal incursions of China.”