CHINA-SOUTH CHINA SEA: US/PHILIPPINES
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US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on April 14, 2016, that U.S. troops and military equipment would be sent on regular rotations in the Philippines and that the two countries had started joint patrols in the South China Sea. The initiatives are designed so that the United States does not increase its permanent footprint in its former colony, but demonstrate that the two countries are increasing security cooperation amid joint concerns over China's actions in the region's disputed waterways. At the news briefing in Manila with Philippine Defence Minister Voltaire Gazmin, US Defense Secretary Carter said "There will be a regular, periodic presence here of American forces. The things that we're doing here are part of a pattern that goes back decades. They're by the invitation of an alliance partner."
The Pentagon said the first U.S.-Philippines joint patrol in the South China Sea occurred in March and a second one happened early this month and would occur "regularly" in the future.
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