MANILA: American and Filipino security officials have agreed to keep a US mid-range missile system in the northern Philippines indefinitely to boost deterrance despite China’s expressions of alarm, two Philippine officials said Wednesday.
The US Army transported the Typhon missile system, a land-based weapon that can fire the Standard Missile-6 and the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, to the northern Philippines as part of combat exercises in April with Philippine troops and to test its deployability aboard an Air Force aircraft.
The launcher can fire cruise missiles up to 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles), which places China within its target range, one of the two officials said. Officials are considering keeping the missile system in the northern Philippines up to April next year, when US and Philippine forces are scheduled to hold their annual Balikatan — Tagalog for “shoulder-to-shoulder” — large-scale combat exercises, he said.
The two officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive US missile deployment publicly. There was no immediate immediate comment from US officials.
Chinese diplomats have repeatedly conveyed their alarm to the Philippine government, warning that the deployment of the missile system could destabilize the region.
A Philippine army spokesperson said was earlier the system was scheduled to be removed from the country by the end of this month. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. refused to confirm or deny the extension.
But Teodoro rejected China’s demands as interference in the Philippines internal affairs, speaking to reporters Tuesday on the sidelines of an Asian defense industry exhibition in Manila.
“China is saying that they are alarmed but that is interference into our internal affairs. They are using reverse psychology in order to deter us from building up our defensive capabilities,” Teodoro said.
“Before they start talking, why don’t they lead by example? Destroy their nuclear arsenal, remove all their ballistic missile capabilities, get out of the West Philippines Sea and get out of Mischief Reef,” Teodoro said. “I mean, don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house.”
Teodoro used the Philippine name for the disputed South China Sea and for a contested reef off the western Philippines that Chinese forces seized in 1995 and is now one of seven missile-protected island bases China maintains in the disputed waters.
Last month, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi expressed China’s “very dramatic” concern over the US mid-range missile deployment to the Philippines during their recent talks in Laos on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings with Asian and Western countries.
Manalo said Wang warned the presence of the US missile system could be “destabilizing,” but he said that he disagreed. “They’re not destabilizing” and the missile system was only in the Philippines temporarily, Manalo said he told Wang.
Although the missile system was transported to the Philippines for joint combat exercises in April, it was not fired during the joint drills by the longtime treaty allies, according to Philippine and US military officials.
China has strongly opposed increased US military deployments to the region, including to the Philippines, saying they could endanger regional stability and peace.
The US and the Philippines have repeatedly condemned China’s increasingly assertive actions to fortify its territorial claims in the South China Sea, where hostilities have flared since last year with repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine coast guard forces and accompanying vessels.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the busy waterway, a key global and security route which is also believed to be sitting atop vast undersea deposits of gas and oil.
US missile system will remain in the Philippines despite China’s alarm
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US missile system will remain in the Philippines despite China’s alarm
- The launcher can fire cruise missiles up to 1,800 kilometers, which places China within its target range, one of the two officials said
8 in 10 British Muslims face ‘financial faith penalty’ when seeking home finance, survey finds
- Restricted choices plague potential buyers
LONDON: Eight in 10 British Muslims say their home finance choices are restricted because of their faith, according to a new national survey that highlighted what researchers describe as a growing “financial faith penalty” in the UK housing market.
The report, published by Islamic home finance fintech firm Offa, found that 80 percent of Muslim respondents believe their religious beliefs limit their access to suitable home finance, while those who do use Islamic products often face slower decisions, heavier paperwork and poorer customer experiences than in the conventional mortgage market.
Based on surveys of 1,000 British Muslims conducted by Muslim Census, and 2,000 non-Muslims carried out by OnePoll, the research calls on providers, brokers and policymakers to modernize Islamic home finance and improve access to Sharia-compliant products.
Among the 24.3 percent of British Muslims who have used Islamic home finance, just 5 percent said they had received a same-day decision.
Some 62 percent waited up to two weeks, while 33 percent waited more than 15 days, including 16 percent who waited over a month.
Long decision times were cited as the biggest challenge by 28 percent of respondents, followed by excessive paperwork (22.6 percent) and poor customer service (18.9 percent).
Islamic home finance differs from conventional mortgages by avoiding interest and steering investment away from sectors considered harmful to society, including gambling, alcohol, tobacco, arms trading and animal testing.
Sagheer Malik, chief commercial officer and managing director of home finance at Offa, said the findings showed British Muslims were being underserved by outdated systems.
Malik said: “Property is the asset class of choice for many of the UK’s 3.87 million Muslims, both as a route to generational wealth and as a long-term financial foundation, yet our insightful research report reveals that British Muslims are being underserved and deterred by slow, outdated and opaque Islamic home finance provision.
“This is not a niche concern. It goes to the heart of financial fairness and inclusion in modern Britain.”
He added that Muslims deserved Sharia-compliant products that matched mainstream standards on “price, speed and simplicity.”
Despite strong demand, uptake remains low.
Only 12.8 percent of British Muslims surveyed said they currently use Islamic home finance, with a further 11.5 percent having done so in the past. More than three quarters (75.7 percent) have never used it.
Faith plays a central role in financial decisions, with 94.2 percent saying it is important that their financial products align with their ethical or religious beliefs. Yet more than half of those using conventional mortgages said they felt unhappy or uneasy about doing so because of their faith.
The study also found that British Muslims share similar home ownership aspirations to the wider population, with 79.1 percent citing the desire to provide a stable home for their family, while 18.6 percent said building generational wealth was their main motivation. Only 2.2 percent said they did not want to own a home.
The report suggests Islamic finance could appeal beyond Muslim communities. While 64 percent of non-Muslim respondents had never heard of Islamic home finance, 63 percent said they favored its ethical principles once explained.
Younger generations were the most receptive, with 43 percent of Generation Z and 37 percent of millennials saying they would consider using Islamic home finance, compared with just 7 percent of baby boomers. More than three quarters of Gen Z and 72 percent of millennials also said it was important that their finance provider avoided investing in ethically harmful sectors.
Offa said the findings pointed to an opportunity to expand ethical finance in the UK, provided the industry can deliver faster, simpler and more transparent services.
