The US stands by its “ironclad” commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday.
Blinken’s visit to Manila is his second since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in 2022 and is part of a brief Asia tour to reinforce US support for regional allies against China.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations, including Taiwan and the Philippines, and an international ruling that has declared its stance baseless.
Photo: AP
Blinken’s renewed defense pledge follows recent incidents involving Philippine and Chinese vessels near disputed reefs off the Southeast Asian country’s coast, including collisions.
“These waterways are critical to the Philippines, to its security, to its economy, but they’re also critical to the interests of the region, the United States and the world,” Blinken said at a joint press conference with his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo. “That’s why we stand with the Philippines and stand by our ironclad defense commitments, including under the mutual defense treaty.”
After Blinken’s remarks, China said the US has “no right” to interfere in the South China Sea.
“The United States is not a party to the South China Sea issue and has no right to interfere in maritime issues that are between China and the Philippines,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) told a regular press conference.
Blinken’s trip comes ahead of a trilateral meeting in Washington next month between US President Joe Biden, Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Announcing the three-way summit with the Asia-Pacific allies, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the leaders would push a “shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
In his meeting with Marcos, Blinken said the alliance between the US and the Philippines was “more than rock solid” and was “an absolute priority for President Biden.”
Top US officials have repeatedly said that “an armed attack” against Philippine public vessels, aircraft, armed forces and coast guard would invoke the 1951 US-Philippines mutual defense treaty in which Washington is obliged to defend its ally.
Marcos has expressed “great alarm” over the recent confrontations that have sparked diplomatic sparring between Manila and Beijing.
Ahead of his meetings, Blinken toured a semiconductor plant.
He described the Philippines as “an increasingly critical partner” in ensuring a “resilient” supply chain of chips.
The US is seeking to cement its lead in the chip industry both on national security grounds and in the face of competition from China.
Beijing has accused Washington of using the Philippines as a “pawn” in the dispute over the South China Sea and various reefs.
Manalo told the news conference that he had emphasized to Blinken the importance of “more substantial US investments towards enhancing our defense and civilian law enforcement capabilities.”
Blinken’s visit was aimed at “advancing the alliance,” said Renato Cruz de Castro, professor for international studies at De La Salle University in Manila.
Marcos would also likely be interested to hear from Blinken what the “trigger points” are for the US to invoke their mutual defense treaty, said Herman Kraft, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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