The White House announced that US President Joe Biden will have a three-way summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan next month, as the United States strengthens alliances against China.
Biden’s meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on April 11 is the latest in a series of meeting with Asia-Pacific allies.
It also comes against a backdrop of clashes between Philippines and Chinese vessels in the South China Sea, where the countries have contested maritime claims.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “The leaders will advance a trilateral partnership built on deep historical ties of friendship” including a “shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Biden will later have a separate bilateral meeting with Marcos to reaffirm the strong alliance with the Philippines, she said.
Kishida will be at the White House for a state visit the day before, which had already been announced.
Japan believes the talks will boost a “free and open international order based on the rules of law,” chief government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters, “With the Japan-US alliance as the linchpin, we believe that deepening cooperation with like-minded countries like the Philippines in a wide range of areas will be essential to maintaining the peace and prosperity of this region.”
The US is working harder to strengthen relationships with regional allies such as Tokyo and Manila, in an effort to counterbalance an increasingly aggressive China.
The State Department said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Manila would reaffirm America’s unwavering commitment to the Philippines.
Beijing recently accused Washington of using the Philippines as a “pawn” in the dispute over the South China Sea.
During a visit by Kishida in November, Japan and the Philippines said they would begin negotiations for a defense pact that would allow them to deploy troops on each other’s territory.
Despite Japan's invasion and occupation of the Philippines during World War II, the two countries have since become closer due to trade and investment, and more recently, to counter China’s assertiveness in the region.
Biden has increasingly used the three-way summit format to strengthen US alliances.
In August, he hosted Japan’s Kishida and South Korea’s president Yoon Suk Yeol at his Camp David presidential retreat in an effort to bring the two US allies closer after years of tensions.
In November, Biden held a landmark summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California in an attempt to prevent conflict between the two superpowers but relations remain tense.
by Agence France-Presse
