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Philippines to meet US to iron out differences on troop deal
The Philippines in November suspended its decision to terminate the VFA for a second time to allow it to work with Washington on a long-term mutual defence pact.
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This US Navy photo released April 29, 2020 shows The Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) conducting underway operations on April 28, 2020 in the South China Sea. Barry is forward-deployed to the US 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. A US Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed through waters near the Paracel islands in the South China Sea challenging China's claim to the area, the Navy said April 29, 2020. The USS Barry undertook the so-called (Agence France Presse/Samuel Hardgrove)
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he Philippines and the United States will meet this month to iron out differences over a two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Manila's top diplomat said, amid renewed concerns in the region over China's assertive maritime agenda.
The Philippines in November suspended its decision to terminate the VFA for a second time to allow it to work with Washington on a long-term mutual defense pact.
"The suspension was intended that we should continue working and I am narrowing down the issues and soon we will meet...and iron out whatever differences we have," Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin told ANC news channel on Monday, adding a meeting was likely in the last week of February.
He declined to elaborate on the terms of a potential agreement.
President Rodrigo Duterte notified Washington in February last year that he was cancelling the deal amid outrage over a senator and ally being denied a US visa.
But he has extended the termination process, which has now reached US President Joe Biden's term.
The VFA provides the legal framework under which US troops can operate on a rotational basis in the country and experts say without it their other bilateral defence agreements, including the Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT), cannot be implemented.
Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of the MDT and its clear application if Manila came under attack in the South China Sea.
Blinken's comments came as Manila had filed a diplomatic protest over China's passing of a law allowing its coastguard to open fire on foreign vessels, describing it as a "threat of war".
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, which is a major trade route. The Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims.
Locsin said he would continue to press for a code of conduct in the disputed waters that "will never exclude" the United States to ensure the balance of power between Washington and Beijing in the region.
