China has expressed concerns over a missile system the U.S. sent to the Philippines, saying that it could cause tension in the region.
On Friday, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said that China's Foreign Secretary Wang Yi, recently expressed "very dramatic" concern over the U.S. deploying a midrange missile system in the Philippines.
"We discussed it and, well, they made it very dramatic," Manalo said during a press conference.
However, Manalo noted that he told China "you shouldn't be worried," noting that the weapon system was only to be in the Philippines temporarily.
According to Manalo, Wang said the U.S. weapon system could be "destabilizing" to the region. In response, Manalo told Wang that, "They're not destabilizing."
In April, the U.S. Army's Theater for the Indo-Pacific region announced that it was deploying a "Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system to Northern Luzon, Philippines."
"This landmark deployment marks a significant milestone for the new capability while enhancing interoperability, readiness, and defense capabilities in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines," the U.S. Army said.
Brig. Gen. Bernard Harrington, commanding general of the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force (1MDTF) said, "This is a significant step in our partnership with the Philippines, our oldest treaty ally in the region. We're grateful to our partners in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and we're excited to expand our security cooperation as we bring this new capability to Luzon. This creates several new collaboration opportunities for our bilateral training and readiness, we look forward to growing together."
However, China has continued to criticize any military deployments in the Philippines by the U.S. warning that they could heighten tensions between Beijing and Washington D.C.
The U.S. and the Philippines have consistently condemned China's growing assertiveness in strengthening its territorial claims in the South China Sea. Tensions have escalated, particularly over the past year, between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guard forces and their accompanying vessels.
Earlier this month, a visit by the Japanese army to a military base in the United States hinted at the possible future deployment of a new American missile system near China and Russia.
Photos shared by the U.S. Air Force's 62nd Airlift Wing showed it hosted a delegation of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. One of the pictures showed the U.S. Army's latest Mid-Range Capability missile system, also known as the Typhon.
The Army stood up its second Typhon battery at the West Coast base in January. The introduction was part of an ongoing upgrade to the service's long-range precision fires, in response to challenges posed by Russian and Chinese ballistic missile units.
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