This is John Batchler, conversation with colleagues Steve Yates of the Heritage Foundation

about the repeated threats to the sovereignty of the Philippines by the People's Republic of China

using the so-called Coast Guard, using the Navy, using flyovers, bullying, crashing into ships

deliberate collision.

And the Trump administration does it look to provide defense for the Philippines

in excess of anything we've seen so far from the Biden administration?

Passage of warships patrolling with the Philippines. I ask Steve, he presents a very comprehensive

case, not the first priority, but certainly part of the Trump administration's defense of East Asia

and our allies from the People's Republic of China. Here's Steve Yates, more of this later.

Well, to me, I see the president seeing this as an area where getting our Pentagon

reformed and revitalized, getting our manufacturing supply chain, especially for the defense

base, really revived and reformed,

that puts us in a much better place to be able to provide deterrent assistance to allies

and to be able to reinforce the freedom of navigation on the high seas. So I see the Philippines

as being an area of potential progress.

I don't think it's going to be the top tier priority in terms of where the new president

elect sees the equities in the world, but it's consistent with working toward a rebalanced

alliance.

And I think Japan can play a significant role in that partnership with the Philippines too.