Marcos Jr to meet with Biden at the White House
Expanding trade ties and security cooperation on the agenda vs China.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr will meet with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Monday as the US seeks to bolster security guarantees for the Philippines after securing rights to rotate US forces through key military bases.
The Biden administration is seeking to strengthen military ties with the Philippines as part of wider strategy to build a coalition of allies positioned against China in the Western Pacific.
Prior to Marcos Jr’s election a year ago, US and Philippines relations were strained during the six-year rule of Rodrigo Duterte.
Before leaving Manilla on Sunday, Marcos said he was “determined to forge an even stronger relationship” and “push for greater economic engagement.” The Philippines is pushing for a bilateral free trade agreement with the US.
The US has accused China of harassing Philippine ships in the South China Sea. Most recently, two Chinese coast guard vessels allegedly blocked Philippine patrol boats in the vicinity of Ayungin shoal on April 23.
“We call upon Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct. The United States continues to track and monitor these interactions closely,” the US State Department said in a statement over the weekend.
The 1951 US Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty calls for the US to aid the Philippines in the event of armed conflict. The two nations recently conducted large joint military exercises.
“The US-Philippines alliance under Marcos is in excellent shape, with the two nations operating in lockstep on the core security challenge of dealing with China,” Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the California-based research group RAND Corporation, told Bloomberg.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was in the Philippines in February, securing a deal for US troops to use four Philippine bases.
Marcos visited China President Xi Jinping in Beijing in January where the two talked about fishing rights in the disputed South China Sea. Chinese Coast Guard vessels allegedly had been harassing Philippine fishing boats.
China is the Philippines top export market. The US is number two.
US Marines need ships in Pacific
The US Navy doesn’t have enough amphibious ships to transport Marines from island to island in the Asia-Pacific, the Wall Street Journal reported.
During a recent military exercise, the rapid response 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit was unable to leave its base in Japan because the amphibious warship USS Rushmore had maintenance problems.
“We are at the point where any little problem with one of the amphibious ships throws the schedule for the whole fleet and affects the Marines’ ability to deploy,” Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, told the WSJ. “If the pivot toward Asia really was a priority, we would ensure that the Pacific-facing amphibious ships were maintained ready.”
That shortage could be a problem if China were to move against Taiwan. “Time matters,” General David Berger, Marine Corps commandant, told Congress recently.
China scrambles jets
China’s People’s Liberation Army scrambled fighters to monitor a US Navy P-8A Poseidon that flew over the Taiwan Strait on Friday, according to the US Naval Institute citing US and Chinese statements.
“The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” a Navy statement read. “The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows including within the Taiwan Strait.”
Chinese Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, called the US aircraft’s transit “provocative.”
Ukraine hits Russia fuel depot
Ukrainian drones bombed and set fire to a large fuel depot at the Russian naval base in Sevastopol, Crimea on Saturday. The depot had supplied oil to Russia’s Black Sea fleet, which has been used to launch missiles against Ukraine. Russian air and missile strikes killed 25 across Ukraine on Friday. The Ukrainian military said 10 fuel tanks with a capacity of 40,000 tons were destroyed.
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