Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr Visits Washington to Strengthen Alliance with United States Amid Tensions with China

couple Karen Lema and David Brunnstrom

MANILA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Sunday his meeting with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden was key to advancing his country’s national interests and strengthening the “very important alliance” between Manila and Washington.

Before leaving for a four-day official visit to Washington, President Marcos added that he intended to convey to Joe Biden proof of his determination to forge an “even closer relationship” with the United States and to “ respond to the concerns of our time”, including economic uncertainties.

“During this visit, we will reaffirm our commitment to use our long-standing alliance as an instrument of peace and a catalyst for development in the Asia Pacific region, and as such for the rest of the world”, added the son of the strongman whom Washington had aided in his exile in Hawaii during the 1986 Philippine revolution.

This is the first official visit by a Philippine president to Washington in more than ten years, and the latest in a series of high-level meetings between representatives of the Philippines and leaders of the United States and China, two powers currently vying for strategic advantage in the region.

A senior Biden administration official told Reuters that Washington and Manila should reach agreements on enhanced economic cooperation as well as “military improvements” amid fears over China’s strategy.

The Philippine president seeks to maintain good relations with both Beijing and Washington, but Manila is increasingly worried about Chinese diplomacy which she describes as “provocative”.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s move comes after the Philippines on Friday accused the Chinese Coast Guard of “dangerous maneuvers” and “aggressive tactics” in the South China Sea.

Washington is considering the Philippines as a possible location to deploy missiles and artillery systems there to counter a possible amphibious invasion of Taiwan, which Beijing claims is its own territory, experts say.

(Karen Lema in Manila and David Brunnstrom and Steve Holland in Washington, Gilles Guillaume for the French version)