Subic Bay: Ex-US Navy Base Revived in China's Backyard

Philippine port once home to the United States Navy's largest overseas base is reemerging as a center of allied activity and shipbuilding. At the center of the Freeport Zone's transformation is the Agila Subic shipyard, operated by Hyundai Heavy Industries. New investment from the U.S. and South Korea revives Subic Bay's strategic importance at a time of rising regional tensions with China.

Subic Bay's reopening as a shipyard and logistics hub comes more than three decades after the U.S. military withdrew from the base. The transformation, spurred by American and South Korean investment, as well as Philippine government support, signals a shift in regional security and a potential staging ground for allied forces as tensions simmer in the South China Sea.

The Philippines is locked in a long-running territorial dispute with China over China's expanding presence inside the U.S. defense treaty ally's exclusive economic zone.

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