John Feng
China expressed "grave concern" on Thursday at the deployment of a U.S. missile system to the edge of the South China Sea, potentially putting Chinese territory within striking range.
The U.S. Army this month hailed the "historic first" arrival of a medium or mid-range capability launcher in the northern Philippines as part of an ongoing military exercise.
The "Typhon" transporter erector launcher can fire the Standard Missile 6 or Tomahawk Land Attack Missile. The latter is a long-range cruise missile with an operational range of over 1,000 miles, capable of reaching China-controlled territories in the South China Sea as well as military bases along its southern coast.
"China strongly opposes the U.S. deploying medium-range ballistic missiles in the Asia-Pacific and strengthening forward deployment at China's doorstep to seek unilateral military advantage," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.
"The U.S.'s move exacerbates tensions in the region and increases the risk of misjudgment and miscalculation. We urge the U.S. to earnestly respect other countries' security concerns, stop stoking military confrontation, stop undermining peace and stability in the region, and take concrete actions to reduce strategic risks," Lin said.
The Typhon battery, from the Army's 1st Multi-Domain Task Force out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, was delivered to northern Luzon—the Philippines island south of Beijing-claimed Taiwan—to be demonstrated at Salaknib, the annual two-week bilateral drills that began on April 8. The Typhon is not expected to be permanently stationed in the Philippines.
Capt. Ryan DeBooy, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Pacific, said the deployment was "a pivotal aspect of this year's exercise," meant to "enhance Philippine maritime defense capabilities, while bolstering interoperability and readiness within the U.S.-Philippine alliance."
The U.S. Army Pacific and the U.S. Department of Defense did not immediately respond to separate written requests for comment.
The Typhon launcher is also known as the strategic mid-range fires, or SMRF, system, and is part of the Army's project to modernize what it calls long-range precision fires, military ground forces specialist Andrew Feickert wrote in an April 16 report prepared for the Congressional Research Service.
The Typhon is designed to hit targets located between short and long ranges, for which the Army has other weapons.
The Philippines, America's oldest treaty ally in Asia, has been involved in flare-ups with China's coast guard around disputed territories in the South China Sea.
U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House last week for bilateral talks and a first-ever trilateral summit with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan.
Tokyo, which has its own maritime disputes with Beijing elsewhere in the region, backed Manila and pledged closer economic and security coordination led by Washington.
"Facing the complex challenges of our time requires concerted efforts on everyone's part, a dedication to a common purpose, and an unwavering commitment to the rules-based international order," Marcos said.
Next Monday, the U.S. and the Philippines will kick off their largest annual drills, Balikatan, featuring allied forces from Australia and, for the first time in the exercise's history, France, according to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Lin, the Chinese spokesperson, warned the Philippines to "be mindful of what the U.S. is truly after and the consequence of going along with the U.S."
"The Philippines needs to think twice about being a cat's paw for the U.S. at the expense of its own security interests, and stop sliding down the wrong path," he said.
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