Due to China concerns, Presidents Joe Biden and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. are expected to agree on military enhancements and business engagement on Monday.
Presidents Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines and Joe Biden of the United States are anticipated to agree on military improvements and increased business engagement on Monday as a result of their shared concerns about China.
Philippines’ Strategic Importance
According to Philippine officials, President Marcos is scheduled to arrive in the United States on Sunday for a four-day visit to reaffirm the special alliance between the Philippines and the United States. Despite the fact that the bilateral relationship transcended security, the senior U.S. administration official stated that it was impossible to minimize the Philippines’ strategic importance.
The official stated that U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will lead a presidential business delegation to the Philippines as part of efforts to strengthen business ties.
Marcos desired good relations with both China and the United States, but Beijing’s aggressive diplomacy compelled Manila to seek closer ties with allies.
Washington believes that the Philippines could house rocket, missile, and artillery systems in order to defend against a Chinese amphibious invasion of Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.
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U.S. Assets At Philippine Bases Are Uncertain
Marcos’s visit to Washington comes after the Philippines accused China’s coast guard of dangerous maneuvers and aggressive tactics in the South China Sea on Friday, in yet another maritime confrontation between the two countries, despite the weekend visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang to Manila.
In response to this Chinese pressure, the Philippines and the United States have intensified their defense engagements, including large-scale military exercises and a recent expansion of U.S. access to Philippine bases. China is opposed to the base agreement.
After the first meeting between top U.S. and Philippine defense officials earlier this month, U.S.
Lloyd Austin, the United States Secretary of Defense, has said that it is premature to talk about what assets the United States would like to station at Philippine bases.
The two parties will finalize a delivery schedule for U.S. defense assistance to the Southeast Asian country over the following five to ten years in the coming months.
Referring to the tumultuous bilateral relations under Marcos’s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, the official stated that Monday’s summit would be part of an effort to restore the relationship.
Restoring alliance management practices to levels prevalent in the 1970s.
The official stated that the United States intended to enhance trilateral communication with Japan and the Philippines and that Marcos would meet with Pentagon officials to discuss joint maritime patrols.
Separately, the official stated that no decision has been made regarding whether President Biden will visit Papua New Guinea next month as part of a heightened engagement with the Pacific island region, but that Washington is actively considering the possibility. In any case, we are actively debating our direct high-level interactions with the Pacific.
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