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Hegseth heads to Philippines for regional defence talks

Pete Hegseth is due in the Philippines for Southeast Asian defence meetings bringing together regional governments and eight dialogue partners. Manila expects maritime disputes to feature in the talks. China has been invited, while Philippine officials have left its delegation unconfirmed and reserved details of bilateral outcomes for a later announcement.

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Imagined Philippine conference room seen through an interpretation booth, with foreground headsets and consoles, empty teal chairs, delegate microphones and a Philippine flag.

Hegseth joins regional defence meetings

US defence chief Pete Hegseth is expected in the Philippines for meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the regional bloc known as ASEAN, and its defence dialogue partners. The Philippine defence department announced the expected Wednesday visit on 27 October. The meetings run on 28 and 29 October in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, in the central Philippines. Defence officials from the bloc and eight external partners are due to participate.[1], [2]

The ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus extends the bloc’s defence consultations to Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the United States. It accompanies a separate meeting limited to ASEAN members. The Philippines will hand the chairmanship of both defence forums to Singapore on Thursday.[1]

Maritime disputes feature on the agenda

Philippine defence spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said the South China Sea and waters Manila calls the West Philippine Sea were expected discussion topics. Andolong said these maritime issues regularly feature in ASEAN defence discussions. Maritime security is one of the meeting’s anticipated cooperation areas, alongside humanitarian assistance and disaster response.[1]

China invited; bilateral details await announcement

Andolong said China had been invited but Philippine officials had not yet received confirmation of its delegation. He listed stronger US alliance ties, defence modernisation and future capacity building among Manila’s bilateral priorities. He deferred details of the engagements’ outcomes to Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro’s Thursday address. Other anticipated meeting topics include disaster response, counterterrorism, peacekeeping, military medicine, humanitarian mine action and cybersecurity. The meetings coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the region’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, which upholds sovereignty, non-interference and peaceful dispute settlement.[1]

References

  1. News sourceGMA NewsPhilippines expects Hegseth at regional defence meeting↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceAl JazeeraHegseth heads to Philippines for Southeast Asian defence meeting↩
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