"The Pacific Islands occupy a pivotal location that is important to U.S. efforts to protect Americans and deny China’s regional hegemonic ambitions," Andrew Harding, the report's author says.
Still, Jeremiah Manele signaled he may take a more balanced approach to the East-West power struggle, recently saying it's “important to treat every and all of our partners as equals."
The initial command and control gateway to earn a continuous Authority to Operate is changing multi-domain operations.
Months of Chinese harassment of Philippine vessels culminated in early December with up to 135 Chinese ships swarming the Philippines around Scarborough Shoal.