MANILA— The volatile geopolitical situation and fallout from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan underline the importance of the US-Philippine relationship, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Saturday (Aug 6).
Marcos, meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the presidential palace in Manila, said his visit was timely, but he believed Pelosi’s trip “did not raise the intensity” of a situation that was already volatile.
Blinken is the highest-ranking US official to travel to the Philippines since the inauguration of Marcos, the son of the late strongman who Washington helped flee into exile in Hawaii after a 1986 “people power” uprising.
He assured Marcos the United States would honour its commitments to their decades-old joint defence pact.
“The alliance is strong and I believe can grow even stronger,” Blinken told Marcos.
“We are committed to the mutual defense treaty we are committed to working with the Philippines on shared challenges.”
The Philippines is a fulcrum of the geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China and Marcos faces a tricky challenging in balancing his country’s ties between the two major economic powers.
US-Philippines ties were shaken by overtures towards China by Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, his frequent outbursts over his disdain for the United States and his threats to downgrade their defence ties.
Blinken’s visit to the Philippines came amid rising tensions, fierce rhetoric and a demonstration of Chinese military power around Taiwan stemming from Pelosi’s visit to the self-governed island, which China regards as its sovereign territory.
On Saturday, the third day of the war games, Taiwan accused the Chinese military of simulating an attack on its main island as they deployed fighter jets and warships just 400km north of the Philippines.
Marcos said Pelosi’s trip “just demonstrated … the intensity of that conflict.”
“We have been at that level for a good while, but we have sort of got used to the idea,” he told Blinken ahead of a closed-door meeting.
Blinken later held a virtual meeting with the Philippine foreign minister, Enrique Manalo, who is recovering from COVID-19.
Manalo said Washington was “an important ally, partner and friend”, but also stressed to Blinken the need for calm to prevail as tensions mount over Taiwan, an island just 260km from the Philippines mainland.
“The Philippines continues of course to look at the big powers to help calm the waters and keep the peace,” Manalo said.
“We can ill afford any further escalation of tensions in the region.”
Blinken said peace and security was a challenge the United States had to deal with everywhere, but it “determined to act responsibly, so that we avoid crisis, we avoid conflict.”
“SIGNIFICANT ESCALATION”
Blinken arrived in the capital Manila on Friday after attending an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cambodia.
There, he condemned China’s drills as “a significant escalation”.
Like other ASEAN members, the Philippines does not formally recognise Taiwan and has shown no appetite for backing Taipei against Beijing – its biggest trade partner.
The United States has a complex relationship with the Philippines – and the Marcos family.
After Ferdinand Marcos Senior ruled the former US colony for two decades with the support of Washington, which saw him as a Cold War ally, he went into exile in Hawaii in 1986 in the face of mass protests and the nudging of the United States.
As regional tensions rise, Washington is keen to preserve its security alliance with Manila, which includes a mutual defence treaty and permission for the US military to store defence equipment and supplies on several Philippine bases.
It also allows US troops to access certain military bases in the country.
Blinken said Saturday the US commitment to the mutual defence pact was “ironclad”.
“We always stand by our partners,” he told reporters. “It’s important to underscore that because of what’s happening north of here in the Taiwan Strait.”
Marcos has indicated he will strike a balance between China and the United States, which are vying to have the closest ties with his administration.
