Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C. Q. Brown Jr. , arrived in Manila on Tuesday as part of his group to meet with his counterparts in the Indo-Pacific region.
The U. S. Department of Defense said it will stop at one of the sites that U. S. troops have access to under the Philippine-U. S. agreement. The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) stops in the Philippines.
He will also meet with his counterpart, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. , chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as well as other military officials.
“In the Philippines we have a long-standing and not unusual interest in regional stability, backed by foreign law,” Brown said in presenting a review of this week’s commitments. “The Philippines is one of our oldest allies in the region. ”
Brown, a former head of the U. S. Air Force, was appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in October 2023. He named one of TIME’s hundred most influential people in 2020.
He first visited the Philippines in 1987 as a junior officer, the Defense Department said in a news release.
The Air Force general highlighted the expansion of Balikatan with the participation of 16,000 troops this year, adding Australian and French troops. He also noted the increase in the number of sites the United States will have to visit on a rotating basis, from five to nine in 2023 under the EDCA.
“I see that dating is growing.
“I think it’s a positive trajectory,” he said.
Later this week, the president will travel to Japan to meet with senior government officials and military leaders to discuss regional deterrence and security cooperation. Brown will also meet with the U. S. Army Corps of Workers stationed at Yokota Air Base.
“Strong partnerships with key regional allies remain a United States strategy to promote a shared vision of a flexible and open Indo-Pacific, amid a larger festival with China – the United States’ stimulus challenge – and the threats posed by North Korea. ” he said. ” said the Ministry of Defense.
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