International Secretary Enrique Manalo and US State Secretary Marco Rubio speak about ‘sustaining the momentum’ in bilateral ties
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine International Secretary Enrique Manalo and his newly-confirmed counterpart, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, mentioned late Wednesday, January 22, China’s “harmful and destabilizing actions within the South China Sea” and methods to advance safety ties.
“Secretary Rubio conveyed that the [People’s Republic of China’s] habits undermines regional peace and stability and is inconsistent with worldwide legislation…. The Secretaries additionally exchanged views on methods to advance safety cooperation, increase financial ties for shared prosperity, and deepen avenues for additional regional cooperation,” stated Tammy Bruce, State Division spokesperson, in a readout concerning the first official dialog between the 2 overseas affairs heads.
Manalo, in a publish on X late January 22, stated they mentioned the “significance of the PH-US alliance for the prosperity and safety of the Indo-Pacific, and the energy of our bilateral political, financial, and people-to-people ties.”
Primarily based on the listing of readouts posted by the State Division, Rubio’s dialog with Manalo passed off after the brand new State Secretary’s conferences in Washington along with his Quad counterparts and earlier than talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Quad refers back to the a gaggle that counts the US, Japan, Australia, and India, as members.
A joint assertion from that assembly indicated the 4 nations’ “shared dedication to strengthening a Free and Open Indo-Pacific the place the rule of legislation, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are upheld and defended.”
“We additionally strongly oppose any unilateral actions that search to vary the established order by pressure or coercion,” stated the overseas ministers of the US, Japan, Australia, and India.
The US is the Philippines’ solely treaty-ally, and each are certain to one another by the Mutual Protection Treaty (MDT). The 2 even have a Visiting Drive Settlement, which permits American troopers to coach in US soil and the Enhanced Protection Cooperation Settlement (EDCA), which permits the US to preposition property in choose Philippine navy camps.
Ties between the 2 grew nearer previously three years or so beneath President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former president Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor. It was beneath Biden’s watch that 4 new EDCA websites have been agreed upon, and the US introduced $500 million in overseas navy financing.
“We stay up for working with Secretary Rubio and his crew in direction of addressing challenges and sustaining the momentum and optimistic trajectory in our bilateral relations,” Manalo added.
Manila has been engaged on bringing allies just like the US and conventional safety companions like Japan and Australia nearer, amid China’s aggression in asserting its claims over Philippine waters. It was additionally beneath Biden that leaders of the Philippines, Japan, and US met for the primary time for a trilateral summit.
The Philippines has been engaged on forging deeper ties with nations like Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, and France, and blocs just like the European Union.
PH supporter
In his affirmation listening to on January 15, Rubio stated that “the Chinese language consider that the US are an important energy in inevitable decline and that they’re in inevitable rise. They already are… and we’re going to must cope with them.”
“The hazard is, due to our personal actions… we allowed them for years to fake that they have been some growing nation, so we should always permit them to proceed to cheat on commerce and commerce… They lied about not militarizing island chains within the South China Sea and the like,” Rubio stated through the listening to.
As a senator, Rubio launched a invoice meant to “higher assist the Philippines diplomatically, economically, and militarily as they counter Communist China’s aggression within the South China Sea.”
The decision between Manalo and Rubio comes per week after Philippine and Chinese language diplomats met in Xiamen and reaffirmed their dedication to diplomacy in tackling South China Sea tensions, whilst Philippine safety officers raised alarm over the continued presence of a China Coast Guard ship simply 60-90 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales.
A day earlier than the January 16 assembly in Xiamen, the Philippine Navy held a unilateral drill close to the disputed Scarborough Shoal near Zambales. Days after on January 19, the US and the Philippines held their first maritime joint train in 2025 close to Palawan. – Rappler.com
