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The Philippines said on Monday it plans to buy the US Typhon missile system as part of efforts to secure its maritime interests, prompting Chinese warnings of a regional “arms race”.
Earlier this year, the US military deployed an intermediate-range missile system in the northern Philippines for annual joint military exercises with its longtime ally and decided to keep it there despite Beijing's criticism that it was destabilizing Asia.
Philippine Army Commander-in-Chief Lt. Gen. Roy Galida said at a press conference on Monday that the missile system will be “acquired because we see its feasibility and its functionality in our concept of implementation of archipelagic defense.”
“I am pleased to inform our compatriots that your army is developing this capability in the interests of protecting our sovereignty,” he said, adding that the total cost of the acquisition would depend on “economic factors.”
The presence of the US missile launcher has angered Beijing, whose navy and coast guard have engaged in an escalating confrontation with the Philippines in recent months over disputed reefs and waters in the South China Sea.
Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, a key global shipping lane, despite international rulings that its claim has no legal basis.
Manila and Washington, longtime treaty allies, deepened theirs defense cooperation since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos took office in 2022 and began abandoning Beijing's claims to the South China Sea.
The US does not claim the South China Sea, but has warned that it does bound to defend the Philippines if his forces were attacked there, and declared that freedom of navigation was one of his primary national interests.
And on Monday, China quickly condemned the decision to acquire the system as a “provocative and dangerous move” and warned that it could spark an “arms race.”
“This is a very irresponsible choice for the history of our own people and the people of Southeast Asia, as well as for regional security,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Monday.
“The region needs peace and prosperity, not missiles and confrontation,” she added, urging Manila to “correct its wrong practices as soon as possible.”
Typically, the Philippine military takes at least two years to acquire a new weapons system in the planning stage, Galida said on Monday, adding that it is not yet planned in the 2025 budget.
It took Manila five years to get the BrahMos cruise missile last year, he added.
The Typhon medium-range land-based missile launcher, developed by Lockheed Martin for the US Army, has a range of 300 miles, although a longer-range version is under development.
Galida said the Typhon system would allow the military to “project power” up to 200 nautical miles, which is the limit of the archipelagic state's maritime rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“You have to take into account the fact that there is no land within 200 nautical miles and the army cannot go there,” he said.
The Typhon platform “will protect our floating assets,” he said, referring to Philippine Navy and Coast Guard ships and other vessels.
In June, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun warned that the deployment of the Typhon was causing “serious damage to regional security and stability.”
But Galida dismissed criticism of the Typhon system in the Philippines.
“We should not be worried about the perceived insecurity of others, because we do not plan to go beyond the interests of our country,” he said.