US-Philippine military exercises are longstanding, “purely defensive” and intended to maintain force readiness and preserve regional security, a US State Department spokesperson said on Saturday.
The spokesperson was responding in an email to a request for comment after China’s defence ministry urged Manila on Friday to withdraw US Typhon intermediate-range missiles.
The Typhon launchers, part of a US drive to amass an arsenal of anti-ship weapons in Asia, can fire multipurpose missiles distances of up to thousands of kilometres.
The Philippines and China have engaged in frequent confrontations in disputed areas of the South China Sea. An international tribunal ruled in 2016 that there were no grounds to support China’s claims but Beijing rejected the ruling.
Temporary deployments of US missile capabilities in the Philippines are responsive to growing threats, intended to maintain force readiness and to preserve regional security and stability for all, the US spokesperson said.
“These US systems are designed to be conventionally armed and are not designed to employ nuclear payloads,” the spokesperson said.
Beijing has deployed ballistic medium and intermediate-range missiles that can cover up to 3,000 kilometres, or 5,000km including dual-capable ones for nuclear and conventional use, and is developing and deploying more such systems, the spokesperson said.
China’s defence ministry accused the Philippines of breaking promises by introducing the missile system, which it called a “strategic offensive weapon”.
The Philippines said the Typhon missile system was only meant for defence and that the Southeast Asian nation had never promised to withdraw it.
The Tomahawk cruise missiles in the launchers can hit targets in China or Russia from the Philippines, while the SM-6 missiles it also carries can strike air or sea targets more than 200km away.
The chief of the armed forces said recently that Manila was looking to buy more military hardware to modernise its arsenal, including additional BrahMos missiles from India and at least two submarines.
