Marcos: Philippine Military Bases Are Not ‘Offensive’ | Taiwan Talks EP128

The U.S. has not proposed involving the Philippines in the defense of Taiwan, says Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in an interview with Reuters. The Philippine President said that granting the U.S. access to a further four military bases was a “defensive” posture in the event of a Chinese invasion. We ask how the bases might be used, and whether the Philippines would get involved in a Taiwan contingency.

00:00 Introduction 
00:37 4 new U.S. access bases
01:04 Marcos: 'Primordial importance'
02:04 Sites definitely strategic
02:53 Marcos 'appeasing' China 
03:11 Port, airbase for equipment
04:11 Weapons can be stored 
05:35 Attack on one, is attack on other 
05:44 If China attacks Guam, Japan
06:33 U.S. to help Manila modernize
09:25 Mutual defense commitment
10:29 China's 9-dash line 
11:26  Resources in South China Sea 
11:37 Greg Poling: Resources are 'red herring'
12:13 Marcos: 'Ridiculous situation'
13:30 If China controls South China Sea
17:49 Marcos: Freedom of Navigation
18:48 How useful are transits? 
19:53 Manila an example for ASEAN? 
23:36 James Holmes: Militarizing islands 
30:25 China's 'insurgency' in SCS
35:08 Woody Island new restaurant 
37:30 How much does China control? 
38:44 1823 Monroe Treaty
40:09 Hu: U.S. arms industry visit

Our guests today:

Tony Hu
-
Former U.S. Department of Defense Senior Director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia

Sana Hashmi
-
Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow

Charles Wu
-National Chengchi University Professor of Diplomacy

James R. Holmes
-U.S. Naval War College's J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy

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