Philippines assures China potential F-16 purchase not intended to harm any nation

MANILA (Reuters) - The potential purchase of F-16 jets by the Philippines from the United States does not harm the interests of any third party, including China, a Philippine security official said on Thursday.

National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya assured China the planned acquisition is not intended as a threat to any nation and is merely part of the Philippines' efforts to modernize its military.

"We would like to assure the People's Republic of China that the planned procurement of the F-16 fighter jets to the Philippine arsenal does not in any way harm the interest of any third party," Malaya told a briefing.

The U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Tuesday the State Department had approved a possible foreign military sale to the Philippines of 20 F-16 planes for an estimated cost of $5.58 billion.

The aircraft would boost the Philippine military's ability to patrol its territory and improve interoperability between their militaries, the Pentagon said.

Malaya said the U.S. government has not officially communicated the approval to the Philippines.

The announcement came after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Manila last week, where he reaffirmed Washington's "ironclad" commitment to its mutual defence treaty with the Philippines and pledged to deploy advance capabilities to strengthen deterrence against threats, including Chinese "aggression".

China has expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea that overlap with the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal ruled China's claims have no basis under international law, a ruling Beijing does not recognise.

(Reporting by Mikhail Flores; Editing by John Mair)