US-made Typhoon missiles to deter China, says Manila

Planned acquisition of system that can hit Chinese coast to 'stabilise regional security'

- Mara Cepeda

MANILA - Manila's planned acquisition of US-made Typhoon missile launchers will stabilise regional security and also deter China's assertive actions, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr said, as he defended the weapons system that has drawn China's ire.

Calling the move by Manila to bolster its military capabilities an "internal matter", Mr Teodoro also took a swipe at Beijing, which has repeatedly called for the withdrawal of the missile launchers from the Philippines.

"(The Typhoon missile system) will stabilise regional security. But more importantly, it will deter any malign entity like the Chinese Communist Party from threatening our territorial integrity and sovereignty," he told The Straits Times in an exclusive interview on Feb 13.

"We have more right as a democratic country - open and transparent, of course, with operational security - to manage greater military capabilities than a closed, paranoid and repressive China," he added.

The Chinese government and state media have accused Manila of being a pawn of Washington after the American mid-range missile system was first deployed to the northern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte in April 2024 for an annual joint exercise with the US.

The Typhoon, capable of firing missiles to China's eastern coast, has since remained in the Philippines, which later confirmed in December 2024 that it plans to purchase the weapons system.

This has angered China, which demanded that the Philippines remove the Typhoon missile system as it damages peace and stability in the region.

"The Philippines has worked with the US to bring in the Typhoon system. It's placing its national security and defence in the hands of others and introducing geopolitical confrontation and risk of arms race into the region, which does no one good," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun at a press conference on Feb 11.