UK-Philippines troop deal to boost Nato’s South China Sea reach

A proposed troop access deal between the Philippines and Britain marks the latest step in Manila’s drive to draw more European and like-minded powers into its efforts to safeguard the free flow of trade through the South China Sea and neighbouring waterways. The visiting forces agreement would allow troops from both countries to train and operate temporarily on each other’s soil, a move analysts said could deepen the Philippines’ ties with Nato members and reduce its reliance on the US security umbrella. Philippine and British defence officials met in Manila on Thursday last week for the first round of formal negotiations on the pact. “We appreciate the UK’s unqualified support as a like-minded partner in upholding the rules-based international order and preserving freedoms ensured by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” said Salvador Melchon Mison Jnr, defence undersecretary for acquisition and resource management, in a statement after meeting Amy Senior, Indo-Pacific head at Britain’s Ministry of Defence. Talks began last year after London proposed the agreement in a letter from Britain’s then defence secretary, John Healey, to Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro. The agreement would set out terms for British and Philippine troops to take part in joint exercises, training, humanitarian work and disaster response missions in each other’s territory. It would add Britain to a growing list of Manila’s defence partners with troop access arrangements, following the Philippine Senate’s ratification of similar pacts with Canada and New Zealand in August and with France in March. The Philippines also has a reciprocal access agreement with Japan that came into effect in September last year, while its agreement with Australia has been in force since 2012. Tensions between the Philippines and China over their overlapping South China Sea claims have intensified in recent years. Over a single week in July, vessels from both sides clashed multiple times around the Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal. Diversifying defence ties If finalised, Britain would become the fourth Nato member to have a troop access agreement with the Philippines, after the United States, France and Canada. Matteo Piasentini, a geopolitical analyst with the Italian think tank Geopolitica.info and an international relations lecturer at the University of the Philippines Diliman, said the Philippines stood to benefit from military exchanges with Britain, particularly in naval capabilities. Vincent Kyle Parada, a lecturer at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s School of Diplomacy and Governance, described the proposed agreement’s scope as “mainly administrative”, covering the terms of overseas troop deployment. “Nevertheless, it’s a necessary step to allow the conduct of joint military exercises on Philippine soil. Once finalised, we’re likely to see the UK as a full-fledged participant in the US-Philippine-led Balikatan exercises in the near future,” Parada said. Crucially, the agreement would also amount to a “show of support for the Philippines’ position on the South China Sea”, he added. Speaking at the 2026 Paris Defence and Strategy Forum in March, Defence Secretary Teodoro said the Philippines was seeking broader defence cooperation with Nato, emphasising the need for greater cross-regional coordination “as challenges to global security and stability continuously evolve”. He also discussed security cooperation between Nato and the Philippines with the transatlantic security alliance’s chair Giuseppe Cavo Dragone on the sidelines of the forum. Parada said the involvement of Britain and France as security partners of the Philippines highlighted the Indo-Pacific’s growing importance to both European powers and to Nato. “The two countries have, by far, the largest footprint in the Indo-Pacific, and they showcase perfectly Manila’s emerging status as a focal point for extra-regional engagement, especially as far as defence cooperation is concerned,” he said. “Nato recognises the growing convergence between Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security, particularly in response to the loose alignment between China, Russia, Iran and North Korea,” Parada added. “There’s an interest there in establishing regional linkages, especially given Nato’s limited Indo-Pacific footprint barring the US.” Piasentini said that Britain and other Nato members would benefit from training in a security theatre outside Europe. “It increases Nato capabilities when the critical mass of countries is trained in a theatre that is not part of Nato,” he said, adding that Nato members wanted to maintain “a cloud of ambiguity” in their relations with China while maintaining a presence in the South China Sea. Julio Amador, CEO of Amador Research Services and a distinguished visiting fellow at Perry World House, said the Philippines would also benefit from cooperating with more countries to enhance its defence needs. According to Parada, closer Nato ties align with Manila’s objective of diversifying its security partners and reducing its over-reliance on the US. Referring to the Philippines’ pursuit of Western partners for deterrence, Parada said: “They generally have stronger militaries and more robust defence industries, but also because they do not have the same inhibitions regarding security-focused cooperation, especially directed against China. Though US-led, Nato is composed of many member countries that share the Philippines’ strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific.” Amador cautioned against a formal alliance between the Philippines and Nato members, however, noting that US President Donald Trump had been pressurising Nato to shoulder more of the burden for European security and to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine. “At this point, Nato will have to focus on its own backyard. But that doesn’t mean that the Nato member states will not diversify their defence partnerships,” Amador said.

UK-Philippines troop deal to boost Nato’s South China Sea reach

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}If finalised, the UK would be the fourth Nato member to reach a deal with the Philippines allowing troops to train on each other’s soil

If finalised, the UK would be the fourth Nato member to reach a deal with the Philippines allowing troops to train on each other’s soil