Manila, Philippines — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will underscore Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to its alliance with the Philippines on Tuesday as clashes between Chinese and Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea grow more hostile, the US State Department said.
Blinken, the latest senior official to visit the U.S. treaty ally, met his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo, on Tuesday ahead of scheduled meetings with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other top officials in Manila.
Next month, President Joe Biden will host Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a White House summit amid growing concerns about increasingly aggressive Chinese actions in the South China Sea and North Korea’s nuclear program.
China’s coast guard blockaded and used water cannons against Philippine ships during a clash two weeks ago that left a Philippine admiral and four of his sailors slightly injured near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.
The March 5 clash on the high seas also caused two minor collisions between Chinese and Philippine ships and prompted Manila’s Foreign Ministry to summon China’s vice ambassador to protest the actions of the Chinese coast guard, which the Philippines considered unacceptable.
Washington renewed a warning after the hostilities that it is obliged to defend the Philippines if Philippine forces, ships or aircraft come under armed attack anywhere in the South China Sea.
China’s coast guard said it had “taken control measures in accordance with law against Philippine vessels illegally entering the waters adjacent to Ren’ai Reef,” the name Beijing uses for Second Thomas Shoal.
The Second Thomas Shoal, occupied by a small Philippine Navy contingent but surrounded by Chinese coast guard ships and other allied vessels, was the scene of several tense skirmishes between Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships last year. But Philippine officials said the confrontation earlier this month was particularly serious because of the injuries suffered by the navy personnel and the damage to their ship.
In his meetings with Marcos and Manalo, Blinken will “promote shared economic priorities and underscore the United States’ ironclad commitment to the U.S.-Philippine alliance,” the State Department said.
They will “discuss areas to deepen U.S.-Philippines cooperation on a range of bilateral and global issues, including regional peace and stability, human rights and democracy, economic prosperity, among others,” the State Department said.
Outside the presidential palace, dozens of left-wing activists tore up a fake American flag during a boisterous rally on Tuesday to oppose Blinken’s visit and US involvement in the long-simmering territorial disputes.
In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims on the resource-rich and busy waterway, a key global trade route.
Beijing claims virtually the entire South China Sea. Over the past decade, China has turned arid reefs into seven islands that now serve as missile-protected island bases, including three with runways, which have strengthened its ability to strengthen its territorial claims and patrols.
In response, Washington has strengthened a range of military alliances and security relationships in the Indo-Pacific, including with the Philippines, Vietnam and other countries at odds with China in the disputed sea.
After China effectively seized another disputed atoll, the Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines, in 2012, Manila took its disputes with Beijing to international arbitration and largely won. However, China rejected the 2016 ruling by the UN-backed tribunal, which invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds, and continues to defy the decision.
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Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila contributed to this report.
