The Philippines has announced plans to buy the United States’ Typhon missile system, triggering China to warn of an impending “arms race” in the Asia Pacific region.

Philippine military chief Lieutenant-General Roy Galido said on Monday that the country would acquire the mid-range missile system, already deployed by the US army on its territory for annual joint military exercises, “for the interest of protecting our sovereignty”.

China, which claims almost the entire South China Sea in defiance of international law and has deployed its navy and coastguard in escalating confrontations over disputed reefs and waters, condemned the decision as a “provocative and dangerous move”.

“It is an extremely irresponsible choice for the history of its own people and the people of Southeast Asia, as well as for regional security,” said Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning.

The region needed “peace and prosperity, not missiles and confrontation”, she added.

Galido said the acquisition had not yet been budgeted for 2025. It is expected to take two or more years for the military to complete its purchase of the new weapons system.

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‘Projecting force’

The land-based Typhon missile launcher, developed by US firm Lockheed Martin for the US military, has a range of 480km (300 miles), though a longer-range version is in development.

Galido said the Typhon system would enable the army to “project force” outwards up to 370km (200 nautical miles), which is the limit of the archipelago nation’s maritime entitlements under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Typhon would, he said, “protect our floating assets”, a reference to ships of the Philippine navy, coastguard and other vessels.

Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun warned in June that the deployment of Typhon by the US army earlier this year was “severely damaging regional security and stability”.

Galido dismissed the criticism, saying his country “should not be bothered by others’ seeming insecurities because we don’t have any plans to go outside of our country’s interests”.