US and Philippines sign a pact to secure shared military intelligence and weapons technology WSOC TV [Video]

MANILA, Philippines — (AP) — The United States and the Philippines signed an agreement on Monday to secure the exchange of highly confidential military intelligence and technology in key weapons the U.S. would provide to Manila.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, signed the legally binding General Security of Military Information Agreement in Manila at a time when the longtime treaty allies have boosted their defense and military engagements, including large-scale joint combat drills, largely in response to China’s increasingly aggressive actions in Asia.

The outgoing Biden administration has taken steps to strengthen an arc of military alliances across the Indo-Pacific region to better counter China, including in any future confrontation over Taiwan or in the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing has claimed almost in its entirety.

That has dovetailed with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s thrust to strengthen his country’s external defenses given an alarming escalationof territorial confrontations between Chinese and Filipinos …