The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed a joint statement by US President Joe Biden and his Philippine counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, underlining the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
In the statement issued after their meeting in the White House in Washington, the two leaders underscored “their unwavering commitment to freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea” and affirmed the “importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity.”
China’s unprovoked escalation of military threats against Taiwan since last year poses serious challenges to regional security and stability, arousing grave international concern, the ministry said.
Photo: AFP
The statement indicated that safeguarding cross-strait peace and stability is the consensus among countries, as it concerns international interests, it said.
Biden also reiterated US commitment to the Philippines’ security and spoke of the “deep friendship” of the two nations as concerns grow about the Chinese navy’s harassment of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.
Marcos’ visit to Washington comes after the US and the Philippines last week completed their largest war drills ever and as the two nations’ air forces on Monday held their first joint fighter jet training in the Philippines since 1990.
Manila this year agreed to give the US access to four more bases on the islands as the US looks to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea.
“We are facing new challenges and I couldn’t think of a better partner to have than you,” Biden told Marcos at the start of their Oval Office meeting. “The United States also remains ironclad in our commitment to the defense of the Philippines, including in the South China Sea, and we will continue to support the Philippines’ military modernization.”
Marcos said the relationship was essential as Philippines and the Pacific finds itself in “possibly the most complicated geopolitical situation in the world right now.”
Monday’s Oval Office meeting is the latest high-level diplomacy with Pacific leaders by Biden as his administration contends with increased military and economic assertiveness by China and worries about North Korea’s nuclear program. Marcos’ official visit to Washington is the first by a Philippine president in more than 10 years.
Following the meeting, the White House announced the transfer of three C-130 aircraft and two coastal patrol vessels to the Philippines.
The two countries also said they adopted defense guidelines aimed at deepening cooperation and interoperability between the two nations’ militaries across land, sea, air, space and cyberspace.
The Biden administration also said it is launching a new trade mission focused on increasing US investment in the Philippines’ innovation economy, new educational programing and more.
Increased Chinese harassment of vessels in the South China Sea has added another dimension to the visit. On April 23, journalists from The Associated Press and other outlets were aboard the Philippine coast guard’s BRP Malapascua near the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) when a Chinese coast guard ship blocked the Philippine patrol vessel steaming into the disputed shoal.
The Philippines has filed more than 200 diplomatic protests against China since last year, including at least 77 since Marcos took office in June.
US and Taiwanese officials have also been unnerved by recent critical comments by Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian (黃溪連) over the Philippines granting the US military increased access to bases.
Huang at a forum last month reportedly said the Philippines should oppose Taiwan’s independence “if you care genuinely about the 150,000 OFWs” in Taiwan, using the acronym for overseas Filipino workers.
The officials described Huang’s comments as one of many recent provocative actions by the Chinese to put pressure on the Philippines.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat