The United States has asked for access to Philippine military bases in eight locations to rotate troops, aircraft and ships as Washington shifts its forces to Asia and as China expands its military presence in the South China Sea.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in a speech in Arizona, has outlined Washington's next phase in its Asia "pivot," deploying its most sophisticated destroyers, bombers and fighters to the region.
The pivot has already seen U.S. Marines rotating through the Australian tropical city of Darwin, the country's closest city to Asia, for training.
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