WASHINGTON (AFP) — President Joe Biden is set to host President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines for White House talks Monday as concerns grow about the Chinese navy’s harassment of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.
Marcos’ visit to Washington comes after the U.S. and the Philippines last week completed their largest war drills ever and as the two countries’ air forces on Monday will hold their first joint fighter jet training in the Philippines since 1990. The Philippines this year agreed to give the U.S. access to four more bases on the islands as the U.S. looks to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea.
Meanwhile, China has angered the Philippines by repeatedly harassing its navy and coast guard patrols and chasing away fishermen in waters that are close to Philippine shores but that Beijing claims as its own.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Saturday that media coverage of the encounter is a “strong reminder” of China’s “harassment and intimidation of Philippine ships as they conduct regular patrols within their exclusive economic zone.”
“We call on Beijing to stop its provocative and dangerous actions,” Miller said.
U.S. and Taiwanese officials are also reeling from recent critical comments from Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian about the Philippines increasing access to U.S. military bases.
Huang reportedly said on his April forum, “If he really cares about his 150,000 OFWs in Taiwan,” using the acronym for Filipino expatriate, He said the Philippines should oppose Taiwan’s independence.
China claims the autonomous islands as its own. The Philippines, like the United States, recognizes Beijing as the Chinese government, but has a “One China” policy that allows unofficial ties with Taiwan. Marcos did not explicitly say his country would support the United States in the armed emergency in Taiwan.
The official described Huang’s comments as one of many recent provocative actions by China to put pressure on the Philippines. Three of his four new base locations are linked to Beijing and two are in Isabela and Cagayan provinces facing north towards Taiwan. His third in Palawan is near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
An official said Marcos still wants to work closely with Washington and Beijing, but “the steps China is taking are very concerning” and “the situation is there.”
Close ties between the United States and the Philippines were not taken for granted when Marcos took office. The son of the late Filipino magnate and namesake seemed determined to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who pursued closer ties with China.
Before Marcos took office last year, Kurt Campbell, the Indo-Pacific affairs coordinator at the White House National Security Council, said that “historical considerations” could pose a “challenge” to his relationship with Marcos Jr. Admitted. An ongoing legal battle in the United States against his father Ferdinand Marcos’ estate.
In 1996, a US Court of Appeal awarded approximately $2 billion in damages to Elder Marcos’ estate for the torture and murder of thousands of Filipinos. A court upheld a 1994 jury verdict of him fugitive in Hawaii after being forced out of power in 1986. He died there in 1989. Biden and Marcos met at the United Nations General Assembly in September, and the US president acknowledged both countries’ “difficult” pasts.
In a private meeting, Democrat Biden emphasized to Marcos his desire to improve relations and told Marcos how the government would “fulfill your dreams and hopes” to do so, according to senior government officials.
Marcos will also visit the Pentagon, meet with his cabinet members and business leaders, and speak during a visit to a Washington think tank.
