Philippines receives military equipment from China

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has received military equipment worth RMB76 million (USD12 million) from China as a donation.

The Philippines Department of National Defense (DND) said in a statement in mid-January that the donation comprised military equipment including rescue and relief equipment, detectors, water purification vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks, x-ray machines, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) robots, bomb-disposal suits, and transport vehicles.

The DND said that the donation also included unspecified unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and engineering equipment such as backhoes, dump trucks, forklifts, and earthmovers.

According to the state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA), the donation was the first batch promised by China under its 2019 commitment to support the Philippines' counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism campaigns.

The DND said the equipment will be formally handed over to the AFP next month.

In 2020 China's Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe pledged to the Philippines a donation of military equipment worth RMB130 million (USD20.5 million).

The DND said that the second batch of military equipment worth RMB54 million will be delivered at a later date.

Janes has previously reported that the Philippines received two batches of assault and sniper rifles along with ammunition as a donation from China.

The first batch included 3,000 rifles with three million rounds of ammunition and 90 sniper rifles with 800,000 rounds of ammunition. The second shipment included 3,000 M4 assault rifles, three million rounds of ammunition, and 90 sniper scopes.