Clarified defense commitments from the United States will bolster the Philippines' maritime security, but also raise the risk of a direct military confrontation with China. The U.S. Department of Defense issued a six-page document on May 4 outlining its defense commitments under the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, the first effort to clarify the U.S. position since the treaty was signed in 1951. The department clarified four criteria: the geographic scope of the treaty, Philippine entities the United States is committed to defending, intelligence sharing protocols, and ways Washington plans to counter Chinese gray zone capacities in the region (actions that fall between war and cooperation). Broadly, the document expands U.S. commitments to defend the Philippines if it is attacked "anywhere in the South China Sea" and not only in the so-called West Philippine Sea, the area of the disputed waters claimed by the Philippines within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ)....
