Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Saturday that the trip to Taiwan by U.S. House Speake...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Saturday that the trip to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the fallout from it show how important the U.S.-Philippines relationship is.
At a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the presidential palace in Manila, Marcos said that Blinken's visit was well-timed, but that Pelosi's trip "did not make a bad situation worse."
Blinken is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the Philippines since Marcos took office. Marcos is the son of the late strongman, Ferdinand Marcos, whom the U.S. helped flee to Hawaii after a "people power" revolt in 1986.
He told Marcos that the United States would keep its promises under their joint defence agreement, which had been in place for decades.
Blinken told Marcos, "The alliance is strong, and I think it can get even stronger."
"We're committed to the treaty on mutual defence, and we're committed to working with the Philippines on problems we both face."
The Philippines is at the centre of the rivalry between the U.S. and China in terms of geopolitics, and Marcos has to find a way to keep his country's ties with the two major economic powers in check.
U.S.-Philippines relations were shaky because Marcos's successor, Rodrigo Duterte, reached out to China, yelled at the U.S. a lot because he didn't like it, and threatened to cut their defence ties.
Blinken's trip to the Philippines happened at a time when tensions were rising, people were getting angry, and China showed off its military power around Taiwan because of Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, which China sees as its own territory but is self-governed.
Marcos said that Pelosi's trip "just showed how serious that conflict is."
"We've been at that level for a while, but we've gotten used to it," he told Blinken before a meeting behind closed doors.
Later, Blinken had a virtual meeting with Enrique Manalo, the foreign minister of the Philippines. Manalo is still getting better from COVID-19.
Manalo told Blinken that Washington was "an important ally, partner, and friend," but he also stressed the need for calm as tensions rise over Taiwan, which is only 260 km (161 miles) away from the Philippines.
"Of course, the Philippines will keep looking to the big powers to help keep the peace and calm the waters," Manalo said.
"We can't afford for tensions in the area to get any worse."
Blinken said that the United States had to deal with peace and security problems everywhere, but that it was "determined to act responsibly so that we avoid crisis and conflict."
