The Philippines and Thailand enjoy formal alliances with the United States, both of which declined in salience at the end of the Cold War, but which have been revived since in response to the rise of China. For Manila, the decision to terminate the military bases agreement with the United States in 1991 was deeply regretted between 1995 and 1997, when the Filipinos discovered Chinese construction and naval patrols around the disputed Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. U.S.