Washington on Friday reassured the Philippines that the US is steadfastly committed to the country’s defense amid increasing concerns over provocative Chinese actions in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
A day after US President Joe Biden convened a trilateral summit involving himself, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan hosted their Philippine counterparts at the US Department of State to discuss strategic and military issues
“Today’s meeting reflects the growing and deepening cooperation between our countries on a broad array of issues, and of course our shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Sea,” Blinken said in brief opening remarks. “We very much welcome this opportunity to pursue that cooperation, that collaboration, and of course we stand with the Philippines in our iron-clad defense commitments including the Mutual Defense Treaty.”
Photo: Reuters
Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo echoed those remarks.
“We attach a lot of importance to this meeting, especially in light of recent developments in the South China Sea, especially China’s escalation of its harassment,” he said. “We are determined to assert our sovereign rights, especially within our exclusive economic zone.”
Austin later hosted Marcos at the Pentagon, where they discussed ways to deepen military cooperation, including by increasing the frequency of joint patrols in the South China Sea.
Austin said that the Pentagon’s budget request for next year includes US$128 million for 36 projects at Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement sites, which would more than double the amount it has invested since the program began 10 years ago.
“This visit here to the Pentagon reaffirms once again the strength of the relationship between the United States and the Philippines in the face of all of the threats and challenges that we have had to face together,” Marcos said.
He said he hoped the agreements reached on Thursday “will make the safety, the peace and the stability of the South China Sea a reality.”
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
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
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.
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