\n<\/p>\n
However, he said countries could contribute in other ways, including through technology transfers, closer access and shared strategic interests with partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“You may not be spending 3.5 per cent, but (if) you have some technology which will allow you to leverage the depth that a big power has, that could be a substitute,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Teodoro said countries should focus on investing in deterrent capabilities and accelerating military modernisation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It takes time (to push budgets through), and that time window has to close. If not, we will be outpaced by technology, and to catch up is very, very difficult,” he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Teodoro said that Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) defence ministers broadly agreed at a meeting last year that a strong American presence remained necessary for regional stability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the interview, Teodoro also defended the growing scale of the annual Balikatan military exercises involving the Philippines, the US and other partners, saying they are essential for strengthening the country’s resilience and ability to deter threats.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The latest edition, held from late April to early May, was the largest ever<\/a> and featured advanced weapons systems and expanded multinational participation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere are incursions into our territory on both the East Sea and the South China Sea, and that is a daily reality for us. We need to do what we need to do to protect ourselves,\u201d Teodoro said.\u00a0<\/p>\n China has criticised the drills<\/a>, saying they heighten tensions in the region, particularly around the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teodoro dismissed those concerns, saying: \u201cThere is only one country which voices concern \u2013 it’s only China.\u201d\u00a0He added that Beijing has \u201cpreconceived designs against the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe nine-dash line, for one, that is a design to occupy most, if not all, of the West Philippine Sea portion of the South China Sea. That is a part of their claim which we cannot abide by.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He blamed what he described as China’s “expansionism” for much of the region’s current tensions.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The tensions here are because of expansionism by China, plain and simple,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The South China Sea<\/a> has become an increasingly frequent flashpoint between Manila and Beijing, with repeated confrontations involving coast guards and maritime vessels.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n However, he said countries could contribute in other ways, including through technology transfers, closer access and shared strategic interests with partners.\u00a0 “You may not be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/57042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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