- Written by Tom Bateman
- Journey with Antony Blinken
Blinken is in Manila amid rising tensions between Filipinos and China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has pledged US support to the Philippines, a key US ally, amid rising tensions with China.
During his visit to Manila on Tuesday, he reiterated America's “ironclad” security commitment to the Philippines.
Friction has increased between Manila and China in recent months over competing claims in the South China Sea.
“These waterways are critical to the Philippines, our security, and our economy,” Blinken said.
“They are extremely important to regional, U.S. and global interests,” he added at a joint news conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo.
“That is why we stand with the Philippines and uphold our ironclad defense commitments, including those under the Mutual Defense Treaty.”
Blinken also plans to discuss trade with Philippine officials, a senior State Department official said.
The visit is also likely to be seen as strengthening US support for Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who leans towards Washington, unlike his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who promoted ties with China.
The White House also announced Tuesday that President Joe Biden will host a summit with Marcos and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in April.
As Mr. Blinken's plane descended into the capital, Manila, the lights of the city's thriving skyscrapers reflected across the bay. The Philippines became Southeast Asia's fastest-growing economy last year, but the country's entrenched inequalities, which have failed to confront long-standing accusations of government cronyism, have weighed on its unstable politics. giving.
The Philippines remains an important strategic location for the United States, particularly because of its position in developing regions where China is emerging as a rival to U.S. power and influence.
The waters of Manila Bay extend into the South China Sea, and the Philippines is one of several Asian countries embroiled in disputes with Beijing over territory, trade routes and maritime zones.
Although conflicts are not new, there has been an increase in tense clashes between Philippine and Chinese coastguards in recent months, raising fears of conflict. There have been reports of collisions between ships from both countries, and China sprayed water on Philippine ships earlier this month.
“The main concern is clearly that China continues to engage in destabilizing behavior in the South China Sea that violates international law,” a senior State Department official said. The official added that the Secretary of State will reiterate the importance of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Video: Chinese ship “sprays water on Philippine ship”
The United States views China's maritime activities as part of its harassment of neighboring countries. The U.S. government has a long-standing defense pact with the Philippines, and has previously said that an armed attack on Philippine vessels “would trigger U.S. mutual defense commitments.”
In 2014, the United States also signed a defense agreement with Manila, allowing the United States to finance the development of military bases in the Philippines and deploy American troops there on a rotating basis. And in 2023, the United States secured access to four more bases in a significant agreement that signals closer ties between the two countries.
China has criticized the deal because some of the bases are close to autonomous Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province but which the United States has vowed to defend militarily.
Beijing also claims historic rights to large parts of the South China Sea and says the Philippines is ignoring offers to “manage” the dispute.
Domestically, Blinken's visit will also be seen as a further embrace of Marcos, the son of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, a U.S. ally who ruled for two decades until the mid-1980s. His reign is remembered for years of martial law, arrests and torture of dissidents, and rampant corruption that cost the state an estimated $10 billion.
But the younger Mr. Marcos, elected in 2022 on the back of a campaign that whitewashed his family's dark legacy, has turned out to be an indispensable partner for Washington.
He was invited to the White House last year as part of a four-day visit that many saw as a reward for pivoting to Washington.
image source, Getty Images
US President Joe Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meet in the Oval Office in May 2023.
His predecessor, Duterte, a strongman notorious for his brutal drug war, reportedly cultivated ties with China and deemed China's growing power too important to defy.
Blinken's visit to Manila follows a visit to South Korea, where he warned of growing authoritarianism and a “backsliding of democracy” in some countries.
The visit marks a rare outing for Mr. Blinken beyond the Middle East in recent months. Mr. Blinken has spent much of his time dealing with the Gaza war and the broader regional crisis, with little sign of an imminent breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
Asked whether China was trying to take advantage of the United States being distracted by other foreign policy crises, the official said he “categorically rejects” that possibility.
