By Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States wants to strengthen the Philippines’ ability to operate legally in its waters, a senior White House official said on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting of the two countries’ defense and foreign ministers.
Senior US diplomat for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink, meanwhile, welcomed a recent agreement between the Philippines and China to reduce tensions in their South China Sea dispute, but said the key would be its implementation.
The Philippines, a US ally, and China, the main US rival in the Indo-Pacific, have clashed repeatedly at sea over the past year, but Manila said this week the two sides had reached a “provisional settlement” to ease tensions to relieve and manage tensions. differences.
“We have welcomed the diplomacy that they have done,” Kritenbrink told the American Enterprise Institute think tank, referring to Manila. “I think the focus will be on implementation. We’re all watching it closely.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will be in Asia this week and next to reassure allies and partners of US support, at a time when the US presidential election in November is raising uncertainty about the Washington’s foreign policy.
They are expected in Manila on Monday and Tuesday for talks with their Philippine counterparts and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior director for East Asia at the White House National Security Council, told the think tank meeting that Washington wanted to increase practical support for Manila.
“What we want to do across the board is to strengthen the capabilities and capabilities of our Philippine ally to continue to operate lawfully in its waters and to meet the types of challenges that we have faced in recent months.”
Ely Ratner, the Pentagon’s senior official for the Indo-Pacific region, said the US “is on track to provide unprecedented support to the modernization of the… Armed Forces of the Philippines.”
He said the two sides would discuss a roadmap for security assistance, adding that they were now in a position to expand discussions on the use of four new military sites that the US has gained access to under its Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement ( EDCA) from 2014.
He said “some historic announcements” are being prepared on U.S. support for the Philippines, but did not elaborate.
Three of the new EDCA sites face north, toward democratically governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory, and the other is near the Spratly Islands, which China also claims, in conflict with several other countries, including the Philippines.
