A Patriot missile system was on display during the German Chancellor's visit to the military section of Cologne-Wahn Airport in western Germany. The Chancellor was attending a demonstration of the German army's Homeland Defence Command.

The US Army deployed the Typhon mid-range missile system to the northern Philippines for annual joint military exercises in April. However, the system remained in place after the exercises concluded. The US and the Philippines are bound by a mutual defense pact.

The presence of the US missile system on Philippine soil has angered China, which has been involved in escalating confrontations with the Philippines over disputed reefs and waters in the South China Sea.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has neither confirmed nor denied that the Typhon system will remain in the country. He has accused China of using "reverse psychology" to deter the Philippines from building up its defensive capabilities.

Teodoro has also urged China to stop interfering in Philippine affairs and to destroy its nuclear arsenal, remove its ballistic capabilities, and demolish its artificial islands in the South China Sea.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, despite competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines. An international ruling has found that China's stance has no legal basis.

President Joe Biden and many other top US officials have consistently expressed Washington's "ironclad" commitment to defend the Philippines.