US has no immediate plans to withdraw missile system medium range stationed in the Philippines despite China's demands. Sources familiar with the matter revealed this to Reuters, quoted by News.bg.
Washington is testing the feasibility of using it in a regional conflict.
The Typhoon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of hitting targets in China, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year and has since remained in the Philippines.
The Southeast Asian archipelago is an important part of US strategy in the region and would be an indispensable military foothold to aid Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
China and Russia condemned the move – the first deployment of the system in the Indo-Pacific region – and accused Washington of fomenting an arms race.
The deployment comes at a time when China and the Philippines – US defense treaty ally – are in conflict over parts of the disputed South China Sea. In recent months, there have been a series of naval and air clashes in the strategic waterway.
Manila said Philippine and U.S. forces continue to train with the missile system in northern Luzon, which faces the South China Sea and is close to the Taiwan Strait, and there are no immediate plans to return it, although the joint exercises end this month. .
Philippine military spokesman Col. Louis Dema-ala said the training was ongoing and it was up to the United States Pacific Army to decide how long the missile system would remain in place.
A U.S. Pacific Army public relations official indicated that the Philippine military said that a "Typhoon" she can stay after September, and the soldiers trained with her as early as last week.
A senior Philippine government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US and the Philippines are testing the feasibility of using the system there in the event of a conflict, testing how well it works in that environment.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned reports that the United States will not withdraw the missile system from the Philippines.
Ministry spokesman Lin Jian noted that Beijing is "seriously concerned" from the news, as he sees it as a decision that "turns back the wheel of history, seriously threatens regional security and incites geopolitical confrontation". China urged the US to withdraw the system "as soon as possible".