Philippine President Marcos Jr. is scheduled to visit Washington from April 30 to May 4 and hold talks with US President Joe Biden. A U.S. official revealed to Reuters on April 29 that the U.S.-Philippines summit talks will result in two major agreements. One is to increase business exchanges between the two countries, and the other is to reach an agreement on strengthening “military power.”
According to Reuters, the U.S. official said that the Philippines’ “geographic location is extremely critical,” and the meeting between Marcos Jr. and Biden hopes to restore the U.S.-Philippines alliance to the level of the 1970s and 1980s.
This is the latest interaction between the US and the Philippines this year. In early February, US Secretary of Defence Austin visited the Philippines, and Manila agreed to open four new military bases for the US. In early April, the Philippines announced the locations of these four military bases, three of which face the Taiwan Strait and one near our Nansha Islands. Its intentions are self-evident. On April 11, the joint statement issued after the US-Philippines “2+2” ministerial dialogue distorted China’s legitimate maritime law enforcement activities.
Regarding the negative developments between the United States and the Philippines, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already stated its attitude: “China has always maintained that the Asia-Pacific is the common home of countries in the region.”
We once again remind countries in the region that blindly catering to forces outside the region will not only fail to safeguard their own security but will instead aggravate tensions, jeopardise regional peace and stability, and bring disaster to themselves.