MANILA, Philippines — The United States will double military aid to its ally the Philippines, which is engaged in a prolonged maritime standoff with China, the foreign department in Manila said on May 4.
The ramping-up of Washington’s defense assistance will see military aid in 2012 jump to $30 million as well as “real-time information sharing” on the Philippines’ maritime territory, department spokesman Raul Hernandez said.
“We have been making representations for this since last year,” he said, stressing this was before the outbreak in April of the tensions with China.
The increased aid was confirmed during the recent U.S. visit of Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto del Rosario and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin for talks with their U.S. counterparts Hillary Clinton and Leon Panetta.
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