Global Courant 2023-05-02 01:34:12
US President Joe Biden and his Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will agree on new guidelines to strengthen military cooperation, US officials said, as the two leaders met for talks at the White House.
The meeting in Washington, DC on Monday afternoon comes as the presidents have sought to mend ties between their two nations, which deteriorated under Marcos Jr.’s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
The trip, which marks the first official U.S. visit by a president of the Philippines in more than 10 years, also coincides with the Biden administration’s efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Biden noted that Marcos Jr had previously visited the White House with his father, deposed former leader Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
“Welcome back to the White House. We were talking along the way, it’s been a while since you’ve been here,” Biden said at the start of the rally, promising the US will continue to support the “modernization” of the Philippine military.
Marco Jr. meanwhile, said recent developments “may have made the Philippines the most complicated geopolitical situation in the world right now.”
“So it is only natural that the Philippines… look to their only treaty partner in the world to strengthen, redefine the relationship we have and the roles we play in light of the rising tensions we are now seeing around the South China Sea and Asia Pacific,” he said.
Competition between China and USA
A senior US official, speaking to reporters about backgrounds ahead of the meeting, had described the talks as the first of their kind “at this level and intensity between the United States and the Philippines in decades.”
Marco Jr. has sought to balance his country’s relations with the US and China as both superpowers vie for influence in the Asia-Pacific region. That is a departure from Duterte, who was widely seen as prioritizing relations with Beijing.
China remains the Philippines’ main trading partner and Marcos Jr. visited Beijing in January. However, Beijing’s increasingly assertive claim to almost all of the South China Sea has raised concerns in Manila.
Still, Marcos Jr. when he left for Washington DC that he was wary of being among the superpowers.
Washington, meanwhile, sees the Philippines as key to any effort to counter an invasion of Taiwan by China, which claims the island as its own territory.
Biden is also heading to Japan this month for a Group of Seven (G7) meeting and to Australia for a Quad Summit featuring leaders from Japan, India and Australia – two meetings expected to have a strong focus on China.
Speaking to reporters ahead of meeting Marcos Jr. on Monday, a Biden administration official said recent signals from China could move the Philippines closer to the US.
The official was referring to a comment from Beijing’s ambassador to Manila last month that the Philippines should not support Taiwan’s independence “if you care about the 150,000 overseas foreign workers” of Filipino descent who live there, which some see as a “disguised threat”.
“Some of the steps China has taken have concerned (Marcos Jr.) and probably even surprised him,” the senior Biden administration official said. “He has a strong desire to work closely with both countries, but finds himself in a situation that makes the steps China is taking very worrying.”
Military base
Manila, for its part, recently agreed to allow Washington access to four more of its military bases under an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. The two allies also carried out their largest military maneuvers ever in recent weeks.
According to the latest agreement made during Marcos Jr.’s visit. will be finalized, the Biden administration will hand over three C-130 aircraft and see if they can send additional patrol craft to the Philippines, a senior official told reporters.
Biden will also reaffirm the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty that calls for the US to act in the event of an armed attack on the Philippine military, US officials said.
Biden and Marcos Jr. will also discuss economic cooperation, including sending a trade and investment mission to Manila; supporting the rollout of 5G telecommunications technology and launching public-private financing for critical minerals and the development of “smart” power grids, officials said.
Meanwhile, the visit of the Philippine president comes as he still faces a US court verdict related to $2 billion in looted wealth during his father’s rule. But as head of state, the younger Marcos is immune from American prosecution.
The Philippines, a former American colony, maintained close ties with Washington even after full independence in 1946.
Relations deepened after Marcos Sr became president in 1965, and continued even as the leader was accused of widespread human rights abuses and consolidating power, including declaring martial law in 1972, suspending parliament, arresting political opponents and taking control of the courts.
His tenure was marked by widespread corruption and alleged theft from the government, and Washington helped the elder Marcos flee into exile to Hawaii during the 1986 people power uprising.
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