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U.S.-Philippines Agree to Modernize, Strengthen Alliance

The United States and the Philippines will continue the fundamental work needed to modernize and strengthen the alliance between the two nations, said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. today at the Pentagon.

The secretary reiterated the United States' ironclad commitment to the Philippines under the Mutual Defense Treaty. The treaty, Austin said, "applies to armed attacks on our armed forces, coast guard vessels, public vessels, or aircraft in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea. So, make no mistake, Mr. President, we will always have your back in the South China Sea or elsewhere in the region."

Spotlight: Focus on Indo-Pacific

Marcos came to the Pentagon the day after meetings with President Joe Biden at the White House. The visit is the latest in a series of meetings between the two nations. Austin visited Manila in February and met with Marcos at the Malacanang Palace. Last month, the two nations held "two-plus-two" talks with defense and foreign affairs leaders in Washington.

Marcos said this visit furthers the efforts to strengthen relationships between the two nations. A DOD official said the visit is happening at a historic moment in the alliance. The two militaries are deepening coordination and interoperability at all levels, the official said.

Austin mentioned the recently completed Balikatan exercise hosted in the Philippines. It was the largest Balikatan exercise in history with 17,000 troops from the Philippines, the United States and Australia, he said. The exercise covered land, sea, air and — for the first time — cyber scenarios.

Following on that effort is Cope Thunder — an exercise testing air power interoperability. This is the first Philippine-hosted version of the exercise since 1990, officials said.

The two defense leaders discussed U.S. support to Philippine defense modernization efforts and expanding operational cooperation in the maritime domain, including the South China Sea, a senior defense official said. "We'll also talk a lot about ongoing plans to continue to operationalize the [enhanced defense cooperation] agreement sites … in Northern Luzon and Palawan," the official said. The four new sites are Balabac Island; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz; Lal-lo Airport, Cagayan; and Naval Base Camilo Osias. These bases join five others that were previously announced: the Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay, Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu and Lumbia Air Base on the island of Mindanao.

Marcos and Austin also discussed new bilateral defense guidelines . This item reflects the unprecedented effort behind modernizing the alliance to bring it into a new era of cooperation, the senior defense official said. The emphasis is to look at how threats arise in the various domains and what form those threats will take. This will enable Philippine and U.S. officials to chart a bilateral way forward "to help build our interoperability, information sharing, planning, etc., around how we address these conventional and nonconventional threats," the official said.

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Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition

Your tuesday briefing: marcos at the white house.

Also, Russian attacks across Ukraine.

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By Amelia Nierenberg

Marcos at the White House

The president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., began a four-day visit to the U.S. with a meeting with President Biden in Washington yesterday. The trip is intended to send a message to China that Marcos plans to deepen his country’s relationship with the U.S.

“We are facing new challenges and I couldn’t think of a better partner to have than you,” Biden told Marcos in the Oval Office. Biden added that the U.S. will “continue to support the Philippines’ military modernization.”

Marcos’s trip comes days after the U.S. and the Philippines held their largest joint military exercises yet in the South China Sea, aimed at curbing China’s influence. The two countries signed a deal in February to allow the U.S. military to expand its presence in the Philippines.

“It is only natural,” Marcos said in the Oval Office, that the Philippines “look to its sole treaty partner in the world to strengthen, to redefine, the relationship that we have and the roles that we play in the face of those rising tensions that we see now around the South China Sea and Asia Pacific.”

U.S. outlook: The White House has been focusing on cultivating Marcos, the son of a dictator, as a regional ally since he took office 10 months ago. His predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, was more conciliatory toward China than his predecessors, and, at times, more confrontational with the U.S.

Taiwan: The Philippines’ northernmost island is less than 100 miles from the self-governed island. An increased U.S. military presence could allow for a quick troop response in a war with China.

China’s position: When the Chinese foreign minister visited the Philippines last month, he had a stern message : It was vital that the government in Manila, the capital, “properly handle issues” related to Taiwan and the South China Sea, and follow through on its earlier commitment not to choose sides.

Fighting intensifies in Ukraine

Both Russia and Ukraine reported escalating attacks in recent days, a sign that fighting was intensifying ahead of an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Russia launched a broad, predawn aerial assault  across Ukraine yesterday, its second wide-ranging attack in just four days. Two people were killed and 40 wounded in Russian strikes on the central city of Pavlograd, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.

Ukraine said yesterday that it had launched four strikes on concentrations of Russian troops over the preceding 24 hours. Yesterday, a blast derailed a freight train in Russia, near the border, though a Russian official did not say who was responsible. Over the weekend, a series of explosions also occurred behind Russian lines.

Timing: Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said on national television that the military was “reaching the finish line” in counteroffensive preparations.

One complicating factor: Mud. It’s been raining for weeks in the region, and the ground is unusually wet. Ukraine’s new advanced weaponry is no match for the black, soupy soil .

A British spy in Iran

He was a senior official in Iran, a trusted keeper of its defense secrets — and a British spy . A Times investigation shows how information shared by the official, Alireza Akbari, upended the world’s view of Iran’s nuclear program and led to his execution in January.

Akbari, who was a senior military commander of the Revolutionary Guards, had open access to Iran’s inner circles of power and advised on key state policies. He also spied for Britain for nearly 16 years, according to Western intelligence officials. Intelligence sources told my colleagues Ronen Bergman and Farnaz Fassihi that Akbari revealed, among other things, the existence of Fordo , a uranium enrichment site hidden near Tehran.

The revelations, which Britain shared with Israel and other Western intelligence agencies, shocked even those who closely monitored Iran. Fordo’s discovery proved critical in eliminating any doubt that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons and redrew the West’s military and cyber plans for countering the program. It also proved critical in persuading the world to impose sweeping sanctions against Iran.

Details:  Akbari was an unlikely spy. He displayed a fanatical allegiance to the ideals of the Islamic Republic and an unwavering support of Iran’s leaders, according to interviews with people who knew him.

Other revelations:  Iran also said he disclosed the identities of over 100 officials, most significantly Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the chief nuclear scientist whom Israel assassinated in 2020 .

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A met gala preview.

Celebrities are lining up to walk the red carpet at  the Met Gala in New York. (It is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. in New York, which is 5:30 a.m. in Hong Kong; 7:30 a.m. in Sydney.)

The party is usually themed to the annual blockbuster show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. This year’s show, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” pays homage to the imagination and creativity of the longtime designer of Chanel, Fendi and his namesake line . (Lagerfeld died in 2019 .)

Given the theme, you can expect to see a lot of vintage designer dresses on the runway this year, which could make this the most sustainable Met Gala ever. Vanessa Friedman, our fashion editor, told us that she hoped it would be “a return to more toned-down elegance after years when guests’ clothes have gotten more and more costumey, the better to go more and more viral.”

Among the many celebrities attending the celebration, Gala watchers will be on the lookout for one in particular: There’s speculation that Lagerfeld’s white Birman cat (and rumored heir), Choupette, who has her own nanny and Instagram account, may make an appearance .

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That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Amelia

P.S. My colleagues won the top environmental journalism prize in the Fetisov Journalism Awards for coverage of  Congo’s peatlands .

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I always love hearing from you. Please write to me at  [email protected]  with any thoughts.

Amelia Nierenberg writes the Asia Pacific Morning Briefing for The Times. More about Amelia Nierenberg

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

News and Analysis

The top American military commander in Europe warned that Ukraine could lose the war with Russia  if the United States did not send more ammunition to Ukrainian forces, and fast.

Ukrainian lawmakers passed a mobilization law aimed at replenishing the nation’s exhausted and depleted fighting forces .

China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, met in Beijing . The visit came days after the United States threatened new sanctions against Chinese companies if they aided Russia’s war in Ukraine.

A U.S. Lawmaker Speaks Out : Representative Chuck Edwards, a Republican from North Carolina, has emerged as a vocal proponent of U.S. aid to Ukraine in a party that has grown hostile to it. He discussed his recent trip there  in a Q. and A.

Hollowing Out a Generation: Ukraine desperately needs new recruits, but it is running up against a critical demographic constraint long in the making: It has very few young men .

Conditional Support: Ukraine wants a formal invitation to join NATO, but the alliance has no appetite for taking on a new member  that would draw it into the biggest land war in Europe since 1945.

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President Marcos arrives in US for six-day working visit

President Ferdinand Marcos beams as he addresses members of the Filipino community in Singapore on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. (File photo from his Facebook account)

NEW YORK CITY, United States— President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. arrived on Sunday at the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey for a six-day working visit to the United States, his first time to set foot there as the Philippines’ chief executive.

He and the Philippine delegation arrived at the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey at 11:53 a.m. (EST | 11:53 p.m. PST).

They were welcomed by Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez and Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Antonio Manuel Lagdameo.

Marcos will meet with the Filipino community in the afternoon at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, where around 1,200 Filipinos are expected to attend.

In the following days, he will also meet with several world leaders and US businessmen and speak before economic briefings in New York City.

Marcos is scheduled to speak before the United Nations 77th General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

He will be the second to speak in the afternoon session of the UN high-level General Debate, which starts at 3 p.m.

Marcos will be the first Southeast Asian leader to speak during the General Debate and will be the first Filipino leader to speak in person at the podium since 2014.

His predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, spoke at the debate only through pre-recorded videos.

During his departure speech in Manila, Marcos said he would bring up “economic recovery, food security, and agricultural productivity” during his speech.

Leaders are given 15 minutes to speak during the high-level debate, but they are allowed to exceed that limit.

Brazil is always the first to speak during the General Debate, which starts in the morning – a tradition that started in 1995 during the 10th session of the General Assembly.

The United States, as the host country, is always the second to speak.

Malacañang has not yet disclosed whom Marcos will be meeting with during his working visit to New York.

However, the Department of Foreign Affairs earlier said consultations were ongoing for a possible meeting between Marcos and US President Joe Biden.

The members of Marcos’ economic team – who make up the Philippine delegation to New York – will also hold a briefing on the Philippine economy.

The president and his delegation will stay here until Friday, Sept. 23, Then will depart for Manila where they are expected to arrive on Saturday, Sept. 24.

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Marcos to highlight admin’s push for food security, agri productivity before UN General Assembly

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Philippines' Marcos to Forge Stronger Relationship With US During Visit

Philippines' Marcos to Forge Stronger Relationship With US During Visit

U.S. President Joe Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. walk up the West Wing colonnade on their way to the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/Pool

By Karen Lema and David Brunnstrom

MANILA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -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 important 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 "an even stronger relationship" with the United States to "address the concerns of our times," including issues related to the economy.

"During this visit, we will reaffirm our commitment to fostering our long standing alliance as an instrument of peace and as catalyst of development in the Asia Pacific region, and for that matter for the rest of the world," said Marcos, the son of the late strongman whom Washington helped flee into exile in Hawaii during a 1986 'people power' uprising.

Marcos' official visit to Washington is the first by a Philippine president in more than 10 years, and the latest in a series of high-level meetings the Philippines has held with leaders of the United States and China, which are jostling for strategic advantage in the region.

Biden and Marcos are expected to reach agreements on greater business engagement, as well as "military enhancements" amid shared concerns about China, a senior Biden administration official told Reuters.

Photos You Should See - April 2024

The senior U.S. administration official said it was impossible to underestimate the strategic importance of the Philippines, although the relationship was more than just about security.

The official said that as part of moves to boost commercial ties, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo would a lead a presidential business delegation to the Philippines.

While Marcos was seeking good relations with both China and the United States, Manila was increasingly concerned about "provocative" diplomacy by Beijing and seeking stronger ties with allies, he said.

"We're seeking not to be provocative, but to provide both moral and practical support for the Philippines as they try to make their way in a complex Western Pacific," the official said. "Their geographic position is critical," he added.

Experts say Washington sees the Philippines as a potential 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" in the South China Sea. The maritime confrontation between the two countries comes despite a visit to Manila this weekend by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

In the face of such pressure from China, the Philippines and the United States 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 discuss what assets the United States would like to station at bases in the Philippines.

It is a delicate issue for Manila, not only because of its concerns about China, its main trading partner, but given domestic opposition to U.S. military presence in the past.

The two sides did agree to complete a road map in coming months for the delivery of U.S. defense assistance to the Southeast Asian nation over the next five to 10 years.

Alluding to the difficult period in bilateral relations under Marcos' predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, the official said Monday's summit would be part of efforts to build the "habits of alliance management" back to levels of the 1970s and 1980s.

The official said the U.S. planned to enhance trilateral dialogue with Japan and the Philippines, and Marcos would have discussions at the Pentagon about joint maritime patrols.

"We will and have stepped up our broader regional security discussions with the Philippines on all the issues in the South China Sea and elsewhere," the official said, a reference to Manila's disputed maritime claims with China and other nations.

Separately, the official said no final decision had been made on whether Biden would stop in Papua New Guinea next month as part of stepped-up engagement with the Pacific-island region, but Washington was "in active discussions no matter what about our direct high-level interactions with the Pacific."

(Reporting by Karen Lema in Manila and David Brunnstrom and Steve Holland in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and Lincoln Feast.)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters .

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Tags: United States , Papua New Guinea , Asia , international trade , Philippines , Australia

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Biden says US defense commitments to Japan and Philippines remain ‘ironclad’ as he hosts key meeting amid China tensions

T he United States’ commitments to the defense of Japan and the Philippines remain “ironclad,” President Joe Biden said on Thursday as he hosted the leaders of those countries amid their separate territorial disputes with China.

The comments came as Biden hosted the first ever trilateral summit between the three countries, welcoming Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the White House a day after the official visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“When we stand as one, we’re able to forge a better future for all,” Biden said in the East Room of the White House Thursday.

Japan and the Philippines both have separate territorial disputes with China, in the former’s case the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and in the latter’s areas of the South China Sea.

Philippines-China tensions have focused on Second Thomas Shoal, which sits about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the coast of the Philippine island of Palawan. In the 1990s, the Philippines grounded an aging World War II-era navy transport ship on the shoal, to help enforce its claim to the area. The ship is now mostly a rusted wreckage and is manned by Filipino marines stationed on rotation.

Meanwhile, China claims the shoal, which is in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, as its sovereign territory, as it does much of the South China Sea, in defiance of an international arbitration ruling. Recent clashes  have occurred when Philippine attempts to resupply the forces on the ship have been met by China Coast Guard ships firing water cannons at the Philippine resupply boats, resulting in injuries to Filipino sailors and damage to the vessels.

Referencing the Filipino-Chinese tensions, Biden on Thursday said “any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty.”

The 1951 mutual defense treaty between the US and the Philippines – the oldest such US pact in the Asia-Pacific – stipulates both sides would help defend each other if either were attacked by a third party.

Thursday’s meeting marks the latest attempt by the administration to grapple with that sort of Chinese aggression, and a senior administration official said ahead of the meeting that the White House is very concerned by China’s actions in the South China Sea.

“What you’ll see is a clear demonstration of support and resolve from both President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida that we stand shoulder to shoulder with Marcos ready to support and work with the Philippines at every turn,” one official said ahead of Thursday’s meeting.

Marcos said on Thursday that the Philippines, Japan and the United States “meet today as friends and partners bound by a shared vision in pursuit of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

The three countries, Marcos added, are “linked by a profound respect for democracy, good governance and the rule of law.”

The meeting comes as the region is grappling with the uncertainty of China’s aggressive posture toward Taiwan and the South China Sea along with nuclear provocations from North Korea and its burgeoning relationship with Russia – concerns that have drawn regional allies closer to the US.

Japan has been at the center of Biden’s alliance building in the Indo-Pacific as officials have seen a willing partner in Kishida, who has significantly shifted the country’s defense posture in recent years and provided ongoing support to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kishida has committed to increasing defense spending by 2% of GDP by 2037 and acquired American Tomahawk missiles to increase its counterstrike capabilities.

Biden hosted Marcos at the White House last year, showing his intent to reestablish strong ties with Manila that had frayed under former President Rodrigo Duterte, who sought closer relations with China.

“We’re going to continue to support the Philippines military’s modernization goals,” Biden told the visiting leader during that visit, pledging the two nations “not only share a strong partnership – we share a deep friendship, one that has been enriched by millions of Filipino Americans in the communities all across the United States.”

A highlight of Thursday’s meeting were several announcements meant to bolster the Philippines amid those clashes.

A senior administration official also said that on Thursday the White House will be announcing a new infrastructure project in the Philippines. CNN reported earlier this week one of the announcements will be the development of a new rail and shipping corridor between Philippines’s Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base, a move that’s meant to send a clear message to Beijing.

Biden briefly referenced that economic corridor on Thursday: “It means more jobs for people across the entire region,” he said. “It means more investment in sectors critical to our future - clean energy, ports, railroads, agriculture and much more.”

The White House is also expected to increase the Filipino military’s capability with a new infrastructure investment similar to what the US announced in India in the leadup to the G20.

In the days leading up to the summit, the US, Japan and Philippines – along with Australia –  conducted maritime military exercises  near Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), after Philippine vessels had alleged “harassment” by Chinese ships in the South China Sea.

The senior official added that the White House will also be making announcements in “Open Radio Access Network technology” and that both the US and Japan will be providing millions of dollars in funding.

Officials also said they will announce an upcoming Coast Guard patrol in the Indo-Pacific that will be taking place “in the coming year.”

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Brad Lendon, Arlette Saenz and Kayla Tausche contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

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Biden says US support for Philippines, Japan defense ‘ironclad’ amid growing China provocations

President Joe Biden says the U.S. defense commitment is “ironclad” as he gathers Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House in the midst of growing concern over provocative Chinese military action.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a luncheon at the State Department on Thursday.

President Joe Biden, center, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pose before a trilateral meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., second left, attends a trilateral meeting with President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, not pictured, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Joe Biden, center, speaks as Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, listen during a trilateral meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, second left, and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, in background at right, attend a trilateral meeting with President Joe Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., not pictured, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Joe Biden, center, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, attend a trilateral meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, listens as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks before a luncheon at the State Department in Washington, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday that U.S. defense commitment to Pacific allies was “ironclad” as he gathered Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House in the midst of growing concern about provocative Chinese military action in the Indo-Pacific.

The U.S. and the Philippines have had a mutual treaty in place for more than 70 years. Biden’s forceful reinforcement of the American commitment comes in the midst of persistent skirmishes between the Philippine and Chinese coast guards in the disputed South China Sea.

“The United States defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad. They’re ironclad,” Biden said as he began three-way talks at the White House with Kishida and Marcos. “As I said before, any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty.”

Relations between China and the Philippines have been repeatedly tested by confrontations involving the two nations’ coast guard vessels in the disputed South China Sea. Chinese coast guard ships also regularly approach disputed Japanese-controlled East China Sea islands near Taiwan .

The so-called “gray-zone” harassment by China has included shining military-grade lasers at the Philippine Coast Guard, firing water cannons at vessels and ramming into Philippine ships near the Second Thomas Shoal, which both Manila and Beijing claim. In 1999, Manila intentionally ran a World War II–era ship aground on the shoal, establishing a permanent military presence there.

Biden, in a wide-ranging phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, raised concerns about China’s operations in the South China Sea , including efforts to impede the Philippines from resupplying its forces on the Second Thomas Shoal.

Chinese officials have bristled at criticism over their action in the South China Sea and blamed the U.S. for exacerbating tensions.

“No one should violate China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and China remains steadfast in safeguarding our lawful rights,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Thursday.

The White House billed the first-ever trilateral summit with Japan and the Philippines as a potent response to China’s attempts at “intimidation” and said it would send a message that China is “the outlier in the neighborhood,” according to an administration official. The White House said in a statement that Biden and Marcos during the talks “underscored their commitment to international law in the South China Sea” and reaffirmed their countries’ treaty obligations to defend each other.

The leaders also announced joint patrols in the Indo-Pacific this year, a follow-up on law enforcement drills carried out last year by the allies in waters near the South China Sea. The U.S. Coast Guard will welcome Philippine and Japanese coast guard members onto a U.S. Coast Guard vessel during the patrol for training, according to White House.

The summit followed Biden’s one-on-one talks and glitzy state dinner Wednesday at the White House for the Japanese premier, a diplomatic honor meant to recognize Tokyo’s growing clout on the global stage. White House officials said they were aiming to send a clear signal that the Democratic administration remains determined to build what it calls a “latticework” of alliances in the Indo-Pacific even as it grapples with the Israel-Hamas war and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Biden also hosted Marcos for a private meeting at the White House ahead of the three-way talks.

“Today’s summit is an opportunity to define the future that we want, and how we intend to achieve it together,” Marcos said.

Biden also announced that the three nations were launching a a new economic corridor in the Philippines as part of the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment that would help develop clean energy, port, agriculture and other projects in the country. Biden said the leaders were forging a “new era” and predicted “a great deal of history in our world will be written in the Indo-Pacific in the coming years.”

The United States, the United Kingdom and Japan on Wednesday announced joint military exercises in the Indo-Pacific in 2025. That followed the Pentagon revealing earlier this week that the U.S., the U.K. and Australia were considering including Japan in the AUKUS partnership, a grouping launched in 2021 that aims to equip Australia with nuclear-powered and conventionally armed submarines.

Kishida visited Capitol Hill on Thursday for an address to U.S. lawmakers that focused on the need to strengthen the partnership between the U.S. and Japan at a time of tension in the Asia-Pacific and skepticism in Congress about U.S. involvement abroad. He offered concern about “the undercurrent of self-doubt among some Americans about what your role in the world should be.”

Biden has made improving relations with the Philippines a priority since Marcos became the country’s president in June 2022. The relationship has had ups and downs over the years and was in a difficult place when Marcos took office. Human rights groups said Marcos’ predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings.

Marcos, the son and namesake of the country’s former dictator, said as a candidate he would look to pursue closer ties with China. But he has increasingly drifted toward Washington amid concerns about China’s coercive action.

Biden hosted him for talks at the White House last year, the first Washington visit by a Philippine president in more than a decade. Biden also met him on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly soon after Marcos took office, and dispatched Vice President Kamala Harris to Manila in 2022 to meet him.

Last year, the Philippines agreed to give the U.S. access to four more bases on the islands .

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Didi Tang contributed to this report.

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Philippine envoy eyes June 2023 US state visit for Marcos

WASHINGTON — Manila's top diplomat to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) said the embassy is looking at June 2023 as one of the possible dates for the first state visit to America of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

In a briefing with visiting Filipino journalists, Romualdez said the embassy will try to time the visit during the Summit for Democracy that will be held in the US capital. Marcos is expected to attend the summit. 

“We are going to start working on that one as a possibility,” Romualdez said.

Marcos' state visit is expected to highlight his administration's efforts to reaffirm ties with the US, in a key turnaround from the hostile treatment of Manila's longest treaty ally by his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who vowed never to step foot in America.

"It is not a goal. It is our view that it is time for a Philippine President to come to Washington DC and of course the White House is also looking at it as such. The summit for democracy may be an opportunity for us to schedule it, but it is still up in the air of course," Romualdez said.

If the US state visit pushes through, it will be the first for a Philippine leader in 19 years.

The last Philippine President who went to Washington for a state visit was then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2003, while then-President Benigno Aquino III was there for an official visit in 2012.    

"It will be good for our continuing relationship with the United States,” Romualdez said, adding that bolstering American investments to the country will be Marcos' key priority.

Marcos and US President Joe Biden first met in an informal meeting at the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.

According to Romualdez, the two leaders "had a very good meeting and hit it off very well."

"We're in for a very good working relationship, a renewed relationship in a different level now. It will be more on what we both need, things that this country needs from us and what we need from the United States," he said. —KBK, GMA News

Summit with US, Japan aimed at economy, South China Sea cooperation: Marcos

Philippine president departs for Washington, DC to attend first trilateral meeting seen as countering China’s growing geopolitical influence.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has said upcoming talks with his US and Japanese counterparts in Washington, DC will focus on strengthening economic cooperation and include a deal to maintain security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea .

His comments on Wednesday came before his departure for the United States where President Joe Biden on Thursday will host the first ever trilateral summit with Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Keep reading

China holds ‘combat patrol’ in south china sea amid us-led war games, philippines summons beijing envoy over south china sea water cannon attack, philippines accuses china of new water cannon attacks in south china sea.

The Philippine president is also set to hold a bilateral meeting with Biden before the meeting of the three leaders.

“The main intent of this trilateral agreement is for us to be able to continue to flourish, to be able to help one another, and of course to keep the peace in the South China Sea and the freedom of navigation,” Marcos said.

He added that the summit will contain “more details in the sense of how cooperation will be implemented” in the South China Sea, which has seen increased naval skirmishes between China and the Philippines in recent years.

Marcos also said he aims to explore ways to advance cooperation with Japan and the US in key areas, including infrastructure, semiconductors, cybersecurity, critical minerals, renewable energy and defence and maritime cooperation.

China has been keeping a wary eye on the summit, which is seen by observers as an effort aimed at countering Beijing’s growing geopolitical influence in the Asia Pacific region.

On Monday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “opposed to the cobbling together of exclusive small circles and to confrontation between different groups in the region”.

‘Horrified’

The Philippines under Marcos has deepened military ties with the US and Japan as maritime run-ins with China in the South China Sea have escalated.

Marcos has allowed to nearly double the Philippine bases that US soldiers can access, and talks are under way with Japan for a reciprocal access agreement that will allow the presence of Japanese forces on Philippine soil.

At the same time, Marcos has also denied the existence of a so-called “gentleman’s agreement” reportedly struck under predecessor Rodrigo Duterte with Beijing to keep the status quo in the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed maritime feature in the South China Sea.

Speaking to reporters before his departure, Marcos said he was “horrified” by the alleged deal, adding that it may have “compromised” the sovereignty and sovereign rights of the Philippines.

A former government spokesperson confirmed last month that such an informal agreement was made between Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, overlapping with territorial claims of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said China’s claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected.

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Philippines president says summit with U.S., Japan to include South China Sea cooperation

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PRIMER: Marcos’ trip to Washington DC for US-Japan-PH trilateral summit

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his visit to Tokyo for the Commemorative Summit on the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation in December 2023.

MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is heading back to Washington DC a year since his last visit to the US capital to take part in the first-ever trilateral summit between the Philippines, the United States, and Japan.

This will be his sixth overseas trip in 2024.

Rappler breaks down key details of that trip.

Dates to remember

Marcos is expected leave Manila on Wednesday, April 10 . The flight takes around 15 hours, but since Washington is 12 hours behind the Philippine capital, Marcos is expected to arrive there later the same day, local time.

Also on Wednesday , Biden will welcome Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the White House for an official visit and state dinner. On Thursday, April 11 , Kishida will deliver a speech before Congress.

Biden will also hold a separate bilateral meeting with Marcos on Thursday to review, as per the White House, “the historic momentum in US-Philippines relations and discuss efforts to expand cooperation on economic security, clean energy, people-to-people ties, and human rights and democracy.”

Later that day, the three leaders will convene for the trilateral summit.

According to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Acting Deputy Undersecretary Hans Mohaimin Siriban, Marcos will have other meetings on Friday, April 12 , before he returns to Manila.

Siriban said the summit seeks to further the partnership among the three countries, putting the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region on top of the agenda.

The trilateral meeting comes as tensions continue to worsen in the South China Sea, amid continued harassment by China – which claims the vast waterway as its own – against Philippine vessels.

The three countries are expected to double down on their commitment to international rules-based order, and affirm their support for the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling won by the Philippines, which invalidated China’s all-encompassing claims to the territorial waters.

Expected outcomes

The three countries will come up with a joint vision statement after the summit.

“This vision statement is intended to be a forward-looking document that not only identifies common principles that guide the trilateral partnership but also provides concrete areas and projects for cooperation,” Siriban said.

“We can expect an alignment of views among the three countries on the recent incidents in the West Philippine Sea,” he added. “We will continue to call for peace and stability, and that the recent incidents be solved in a peaceful and diplomatic manner.” – Rappler.com

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I hope this will be a productive trip. Can we have information about the details of his entourage? Is he bringing the whole Marcos-Romualdez clan again? Are 2022 election campaign fund donors included in his entourage, too? Is Sandro’s sweetheart part of it, too? This information is essential for the Filipino people.

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While Biden and Kishida exchange praise in Washington, Japan is asking ‘what if Trump’?

Despite warm words from the US and Japanese leaders during their summit this week, back in Japan the spectre of a second Trump White House looms large

Joe Biden was effusive in his praise for Japan and its “bold” prime minister, Fumio Kishida, during a state visit that took place this week amid new and growing security threats in the Asia-Pacific , wars in Ukraine and Gaza , and months of political uncertainty ahead for both leaders.

The first ladies, Jill Biden and Yuko Kishida, exchanged gifts and hugs, there was talk of cherry blossoms and a state banquet menu inspired by Japanese cuisine – and even a half-decent joke from Kishida about the Flintstones.

But Kishida’s speech to Congress on Thursday – only the second by a Japanese leader – was largely short on humour.

“I detect an undercurrent of self-doubt among some Americans about what your role in the world should be,” he said. “The international order that the US worked for generations to build is facing new challenges, challenges from those with values and principles very different from ours.”

He was referring to the loose alliance of nations lining up to challenge the US-led hegemony, in Europe in the form of Russia, but also closer to home in northeast Asia, where an increasingly assertive China is causing alarm in the South And East China seas, and a nuclear-armed North Korea is sinking deeper into the embrace of a needy Kremlin.

But Kishida may as well have been referring to another potential threat to the international order and his country’s relations with the US – the possible election in November of Donald Trump .

US- Japan ties – described by the former US ambassador to Japan, Mike Mansfield, as the most important in the world, “bar none” – could look very different under a Trump administration.

The warning signs emerged during his first term, when Trump urged Japan – and Washington’s other “free-loading” ally in the region, South Korea – to foot more of the bill towards hosting US forces, warning that failure to comply could see those troops removed.

That never came to pass, but unease about a possible Trump Mark II is running high in Japan, prompting the return to the lexicon of moshitora , or “What if Trump?” and a more emphatic follow-up: hobotora – “almost certainly Trump”.

Japanese attempts to pre-emptively court Trump, and understand what his presidency might mean for Japan, have failed. Taro Aso, a former prime minister, tried unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting earlier this year, according to media reports, while the foreign ministry has mobilised diplomats across the US to analyse any mention of foreign policy the Republican nominee makes during his campaign.

Less than eight months before the presidential election, the indications are that a Trump White House could shake the foundations of the US-Japan security arrangements referred to in such glowing terms by Biden and Kishida.

Under Kishida, Japan has adhered to the US playbook, vowing to double its defence budget over five years through to 2027 and easing strained ties with its neighbour South Korea, while remaining on message over Russian sanctions. It will develop a next-generation stealth fighter jet with Britain and Italy, and acquire the ability to launch “counterstrikes” against enemy targets, presumed to be North Korean missile sites. There is talk, too, of a future role for Tokyo in the Aukus defence partnership alongside the US, Britain and Australia.

A second Trump White House would throw curveballs in Japan’s direction, according to his former national security adviser John Bolton, who said recently that his former boss had a “lack of appreciation for what American alliances do”.

In policy terms, that could mean rewriting the countries’ 1960 security treaty. As president, Trump criticised the “one-sided” nature of the US-Japan alliance, because the treaty requires the US to intervene if Japan is attacked but places no reciprocal obligation on its “pacifist” ally.

“Get ready for Trump to say, ‘I want the treaty amended so that Japan is also obligated to defend the United States,’” Bolton said in an interview in March with Nikkei Asia.

Any uncertainty in Tokyo and Seoul over US commitments to the defence of its allies would ramp up the risks in an already unstable region, he added. It would, Bolton said, “lead, in Japan, in South Korea, and elsewhere, to the question, ‘Should we get our own nuclear weapons? If we’re not under the US nuclear umbrella, maybe we need our own.’”

To complicate the picture, there is no guarantee of political continuity on either side of the Pacific.

When he returns to Tokyo this weekend, Kishida will be confronted by the fallout from a funding scandal that has pitted him against the most powerful faction in his ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and sparked speculation about his future.

Despite disciplining dozens of MPs and apologising for the scandal, Kishida’s approval rating slumped to 23% in a poll published this week, down two percentage points from last month.

While Japan does not have to hold a lower house election until autumn 2025, an LDP defeat in a byelection later this month could further weaken Kishida.

“LDP lawmakers have already suggested that if the LDP loses … it could trigger a movement to unseat Kishida in the coming months,” said Tobias Harris, the founder of Japan Foresight, a political risk advisory firm in Washington.

The US’s commitment to the defence of Japan is “ironclad”, Biden claimed this week. But look closer, and it is impossible to ignore the signs of danger.

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