US and Philippines step up strategic partnership

Washington on Friday reassured the Philippines that the US is steadfastly committed to the country’s defense amid increasing concerns over provocative Chinese actions in disputed areas of the South China Sea.

A day after US President Joe Biden convened a trilateral summit involving himself, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan hosted their Philippine counterparts at the US Department of State to discuss strategic and military issues

“Today’s meeting reflects the growing and deepening cooperation between our countries on a broad array of issues, and of course our shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Sea,” Blinken said in brief opening remarks. “We very much welcome this opportunity to pursue that cooperation, that collaboration, and of course we stand with the Philippines in our ironclad defense commitments including the Mutual Defense Treaty.”

Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo echoed those remarks.

“We attach a lot of importance to this meeting, especially in light of recent developments in the South China Sea, especially China’s escalation of its harassment,” he said. “We are determined to assert our sovereign rights, especially within our exclusive economic zone.”

Austin later hosted Marcos at the Pentagon, where they discussed ways to deepen military cooperation, including by increasing the frequency of joint patrols in the South China Sea.

Austin said that the Pentagon’s budget request for next year includes US$128 million for 36 projects at Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement sites, which would more than double the amount it has invested since the program began 10 years ago.

“This visit here to the Pentagon reaffirms once again the strength of the relationship between the United States and the Philippines in the face of all of the threats and challenges that we have had to face together,” Marcos said.

He said he hoped the agreements reached on Thursday “will make the safety, the peace and the stability of the South China Sea a reality.”