아세안

The U.S.-Philippines alliance, rooted in the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), is a cornerstone of U.S. alliances and partnerships in Southeast Asia, a sub-region at the heart of the Indo-Pacific, America’s “priority theater.” The Philippines is important to U.S. interests. It sits at the crossroads of major sea lanes in the Indo-Pacific and is located close to Taiwan, which will make it particularly important in the event of a Taiwan contingency. The Luzon Strait, lying between Taiwan and Luzon, the northern portion of the Philippine archipelago, provides entrance to and exit from the South China Sea; its depth gives nuclear submarines a better chance of passing through undetected.