Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs The Pentagon has confirmed that American troops are quietly assisting Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea, in a sign of the United States’ growing support for its ally amid flaring tensions with China.Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin referenced the collaboration in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, highlighting “Task Force Ayungin,” which involves U.S. military personnel working alongside the Philippines military’s Western Command.”I visited the Command and Control Fusion Center in Palawan today,” Austin wrote. “I also met with some American service members deployed to U.S. Task Force Ayungin, and I thanked them for their hard work on behalf of the American people and our alliances and partnerships in this region.”Pentagon spokesperson Pete Nguyen told the Philippine news outlet Inquirer that the task force focuses on planning, training, and systems provided through U.S. security assistance. “This support includes unmanned surface vessels that Secretary Austin observed during his stop in Palawan,” he said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, center, visits the Command and Control Fusion Center on the Philippine island of Palawan along with Philippines’ defense chief Gilberto Teodoro. During his visit, he signed a bilateral intelligence-sharing agreement….
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, center, visits the Command and Control Fusion Center on the Philippine island of Palawan along with Philippines’ defense chief Gilberto Teodoro. During his visit, he signed a bilateral intelligence-sharing agreement.
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Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and U.S. Department of Defense with written requests for comment.Nguyen stressed that the task force reflects a continuation of decades of close U.S.-Philippine cooperation. Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano told the news agency that U.S. involvement is limited to “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, [and] maritime domain awareness,” with no “direct participation” in Philippine operations.Washington and Manila share a Mutual Defense Treaty, which Austin and President Joe Biden have stressed is “ironclad.” The treaty has sparked discussions in light of clashes between Philippine maritime forces and their Chinese counterparts.I visited the Command and Control Fusion Centerin Palawan today. I also met with some American service members deployed to U.S. Task Force Ayungin, and I thanked them for their hard work on behalf of the American people and our alliances and partnerships in this region. pic.twitter.com/baqgo72r1T— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) November 19, 2024
During Austin’s two days in the Philippines, he met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., visited the unified command center in Palawan, and inked an intelligence-sharing agreement.”No military agreement, or defense and security cooperation, in whatever form, should target any third party or harm the interests of any third party,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during Monday’s regular press conference.”Nor should it undermine regional peace or exacerbate regional tensions,” he went on, adding that the only way to maintain regional piece is to “uphold good-neighborliness and friendship and maintain strategic independence.”
The deployment of U.S. personnel to Task Force Ayungin comes amid increased tensions in the South China Sea, where Philippine and Chinese forces have repeatedly clashed over contested waters.China claims nearly the entire sea, using its controversial “dashed line” to assert control over resource-rich areas despite international rejection of those claims.An independent tribunal at The Hague ruled in 2016 that China’s territorial claims, represented by the nine-dash line, were incompatible with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Beijing, however, has dismissed the decision as invalid.
