US Typhon missile system in Philippines has China facing ‘more tense security situation’

US ‘essentially provoking a new cold war in the Asia-Pacific’ with missile deployment and ‘minilateralism’, observer warns

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Philippine and US troops take part in air assault exercises as part of joint annual military drills, in the Philippines’ Palawan province on April 26. Photo: EPA-EFE/Armed Forces of the Philippines

Sylvie Zhuangin Beijing

Published: 10:05pm, 22 Sep 2024Updated: 9:13am, 23 Sep 2024

Washington’s plans to retain its Typhon missile system in the Philippines while stepping up defence engagement with other Asia-Pacific allies pose heightened security risks for China, according to analysts.

The mid-range missile system has remained in the Philippines since it was brought in during a joint exercise with American forces in April, as tensions spiked in the South China Sea between rival claimants Beijing and Manila – a US treaty ally.

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Washington had no immediate plans to withdraw the system despite demands from Beijing, Reuters reported last week, adding that the US was testing the feasibility of using the system in a regional conflict.

Manila said in July that the system could be withdrawn as early as September, but a top Philippine security official said on Friday that there was no immediate timeline for this.

Zhu Feng, executive dean of Nanjing University’s School of International Studies, said the United States’ moves were reminiscent of the Cold War.

“[The US] is deploying missiles in the Philippines now, and it could possibly [deploy weapons] to [treaty allies] South Korea and Japan in the future, and it is essentially provoking a new cold war in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.

The Typhon system, which is stationed on the northern Philippine island of Luzon, can be equipped with cruise missiles to strike targets in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. This is the first time that a mid-range missile system has been stationed in the Asia-Pacific since a 1987 US-Soviet treaty prohibited such deployments.