U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in Recent York City on Sept. 22, 2022.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday was essential in advancing his country’s national interest and strengthening the “very necessary alliance” between Manila and Washington.
Before leaving for his four-day official visit to Washington, Marcos said on Sunday he would convey to Biden his determination to forge “a fair stronger relationship” with the USA to “address the concerns of our times,” including issues related to the economy.
“During this visit, we’ll reaffirm our commitment to fostering our long standing alliance as an instrument of peace and as catalyst of development within the Asia Pacific region, and for that matter for the remainder of the world,” said Marcos, the son of the late strongman whom Washington helped flee into exile in Hawaii during a 1986 ‘people power’ rebellion.
Marcos’ official visit to Washington is the primary by a Philippine president in greater than 10 years, and the most recent in a series of high-level meetings the Philippines has held with leaders of the USA and China, that are jostling for strategic advantage within the region.
Biden and Marcos are expected to succeed in agreements on greater business engagement, in addition to “military enhancements” amid shared concerns about China, a senior Biden administration official told Reuters.
The senior U.S. administration official said it was unattainable to underestimate the strategic importance of the Philippines, although the connection was greater than nearly security.
The official said that as a part of moves to spice up business ties, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo would a lead a presidential business delegation to the Philippines.
While Marcos was in search of good relations with each China and the USA, Manila was increasingly concerned about “provocative” diplomacy by Beijing and in search of stronger ties with allies, he said.
“We’re in search of to not be provocative, but to offer each moral and practical support for the Philippines as they fight to make their way in a fancy Western Pacific,” the official said. “Their geographic position is critical,” he added.
Experts say Washington sees the Philippines as a possible location for rockets, missiles and artillery systems to counter a Chinese amphibious invasion of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
Marcos’ Washington visit comes after Philippines on Friday accused China’s coast guard of “dangerous maneuvers” and “aggressive tactics” within the South China Sea. The maritime confrontation between the 2 countries comes despite a visit to Manila this weekend by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
Within the face of such pressure from China, the Philippines and the USA have rapidly stepped up defense engagements, including large-scale military exercises and a recent expansion of U.S. access to Philippine bases. China has objected to the bases agreement.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said earlier this month that it was “too early” to debate what assets the USA would love to station at bases within the Philippines.
It’s a fragile issue for Manila, not only due to its concerns about China, its important trading partner, but given domestic opposition to U.S. military presence up to now.
The 2 sides did agree to finish a road map in coming months for the delivery of U.S. defense assistance to the Southeast Asian nation over the subsequent five to 10 years.
Alluding to the difficult period in bilateral relations under Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, the official said Monday’s summit could be a part of efforts to construct the “habits of alliance management” back to levels of the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties.
The official said the U.S. planned to boost trilateral dialogue with Japan and the Philippines, and Marcos would have discussions on the Pentagon about joint maritime patrols.
“We’ll and have stepped up our broader regional security discussions with the Philippines on all the problems within the South China Sea and elsewhere,” the official said, a reference to Manila’s disputed maritime claims with China and other nations.
Individually, the official said no final decision had been made on whether Biden would stop in Papua Recent Guinea next month as a part of stepped-up engagement with the Pacific-island region, but Washington was “in lively discussions irrespective of what about our direct high-level interactions with the Pacific.”
