(ANSA) - BEIJING, FEBRUARY 02 - The US-Philippines initiative on the access of US troops to four other military bases in the Asian country "is a great agreement" and "is only part of our efforts to modernize the alliance".
Such efforts, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin noted in a streamed press conference with his counterpart Carlito Galvez, "are especially important as the People's Republic of China continues to advance its illegitimate claims in the western Philippine Sea."
The alliance, Austin added, "makes our democracies safer and helps sustain a free and open Indo-Pacific."
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