Biden to meet with Philippines, Japanese leaders as worry grows about Chinese action in Indo-Pacific
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden brings Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida together at the White House on Thursday, as the three countries use their first-ever trilateral summit to try to show they are aligned on countermeasures. China’s military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.
The leaders are expected to announce that their coastguards will conduct a joint patrol in the Indo-Pacific in 2024, a follow-up to law enforcement exercises conducted by the allies last year in waters near the disputed South China Sea. The U.S. Coast Guard will also welcome Philippine and Japanese Coast Guard members on a U.S. Coast Guard ship for training during the patrol, according to senior Biden administration officials who requested anonymity to preview the talks.
The summit comes a day after Biden held one-on-one talks with Kishida and celebrated the Japanese prime minister with a glitzy state dinner at the White House, a diplomatic honor meant to recognize Tokyo’s growing influence on the world stage. It was also intended to send a clear signal that the Democratic administration remains committed to building a “gridwork” of alliances in the Indo-Pacific even as it grapples with the Israel-Hamas war and the continued Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Biden reflected Wednesday on how Japan, once a fierce American enemy, has become one of America’s closest partners and an indispensable ally in a shared pursuit of peace, security and prosperity in the Pacific and beyond.
“Just a few generations ago, our two nations were engaged in a devastating conflict,” Biden said with Kishida at his side during a pomp arrival ceremony at the White House. “It would have been easy to say that we remain opponents. Instead, we made a much better choice: we became the best of friends.”
Thursday’s three-way summit will also have a major economic component, with several major U.S. companies — including Meta, UPS and Greenbrier Energy — announcing investments in the Philippines, government officials said. The new deals come after Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited Manila last month to announce more than $1 billion in new investments by US companies in the Philippines.
Administration officials have acknowledged growing concerns among all three countries about provocative Chinese action in the Pacific, which will be a key focus of the leaders’ talks. The White House sees the summit as a counterbalance to China’s efforts at “intimidation” and as a signal that China is “the outlier in the neighborhood,” according to an administration official.
Relations between China and the Philippines have been repeatedly tested by skirmishes involving both countries’ coast guard ships in the disputed South China Sea. Chinese coast guard ships also regularly approach disputed Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea near Taiwan.
China’s so-called “gray zone” intimidation included shining military-grade lasers on the Philippine coast guard, firing water cannons at ships and ramming Philippine ships near the Second Thomas Shoal, which both Manila and Beijing claim. In 1999, Manila deliberately ran the World War II ship aground on the shoal, establishing a permanent military presence there.
In a wide-ranging phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, Biden expressed concern about Chinese operations in the South China Sea, including efforts to prevent the Philippines, which the US is required to defend under the treaty, from supplying its forces . the Second Thomas Shoal.
“The main purpose of this trilateral agreement is so that we can continue to prosper, help each other and … maintain peace in the South China Sea and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Marcos told reporters before leaving for Washington on Wednesday.
Chinese officials have criticized their actions in the South China Sea and blamed the US for exacerbating tensions
“Countries outside the region, led by the US, have cobbled together small groups in the South China Sea,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday. of peace and sowing chaos in the name of order. This is without a doubt an act of hegemonism.”
Biden has made improving relations with the Philippines a priority since Marcos became president of the country in June 2022. The relationship had its ups and downs over the years and was in a difficult situation when Marcos took office. According to human rights groups, Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” led to thousands of extrajudicial killings.
Marcos, the son and namesake of the country’s former dictator, said as a candidate he would pursue closer ties with China. But he has increasingly drifted toward Washington amid concerns about China’s coercive measures.
Biden hosted him for talks at the White House last year, the first visit to Washington by a Philippine president in more than a decade. Biden also met him on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly shortly after Marcos took office, and sent Vice President Kamala Harris to Manila to meet him in 2022.
Last year, the Philippines agreed to give the US access to four more bases on the islands.
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Associated Press writer Didi Tang contributed to this report.