The deployment of US medium-range missiles in the Philippines will create huge military risks in the region, China’s defence ministry has warned.
The ministry’s message is quoted by TASS.
“The actions of the US and the Philippines have put the entire region under US artillery fire, brought huge military risks to the region, seriously affected the regional security structure and undermined regional peace and stability,” Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said.
The official said the US deployed a medium-range missile system to the Philippines under the pretext of military exercises, the first such case in the Asia-Pacific region since the end of the Cold War.
Earlier this year, the US moved a large stockpile of fuel from a military base in Hawaii to the Philippines – according to the Manila Times, there are suspicions that Washington is preparing for a possible conflict with China over Taiwan.
According to the Pentagon, the US has decided to increase support for the modernisation of the Philippine Armed Forces in the name of achieving joint security goals.