{"id":1609746,"date":"2024-04-12T20:27:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T20:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/southchinasea\/white-house-summit-04122024162029.html"},"modified":"2024-04-12T20:27:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T20:27:00","slug":"with-new-trilateral-partnership-philippines-eyes-more-foreign-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/04\/12\/with-new-trilateral-partnership-philippines-eyes-more-foreign-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"With new trilateral partnership, Philippines eyes more foreign investment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

The Philippines stands to reap an economic windfall through a new security partnership with the U.S. and Japan that their leaders unveiled at a Washington summit Thursday, in seeking to dull the edge of China\u2019s influence in the Asia-Pacific.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

U.S. President Joe Biden hosted<\/a>\u00a0Philippine and Japanese leaders Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Fumio Kishida at the White House in what was billed as an inaugural tripartite summit. It came on the heels of surging Chinese assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As part of a <\/span>joint statement<\/span><\/a> outlining their collective vision for regional security, the three leaders announced plans for collaborating on economic projects in the Philippines, including developing an infrastructure and high-tech connectivity corridor on the main island of Luzon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The three allies were careful to describe their new partnership as a defense cooperation pact in nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe meet today as friends and partners, bound by a shared vision and pursuit of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,\u201d President Marcos said.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a partnership, borne not out of convenience nor of expediency, but as a natural progression of a deepening relations and robust cooperation amongst our three nations, linked by a profound respect for democracy, good governance, and the rule of law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Summit-folo-2.jpg\"\n
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (second from left), attends a trilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (not pictured) in the East Room of the White House in Washington, April 11, 2024. (Mark Schiefelbein\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Marcos, the namesake son of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, has steered his country back to <\/span>close relations<\/span><\/a> with the United States, its traditional ally, after those ties had cooled under his predecessor, who drew the Philippines closer to China.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Marcos said the summit was the culmination of cooperation by the three nations that had started even before the historic one-day meeting took place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Security officials of the three nations already had been meeting to lay the foundation for \u201ctrilateral maritime exercises,\u201d and the expansion of annual large-scale maritime exercises between the U.S. and the Philippines, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The trilateral meeting, Marcos said, would likely evolve in the future, as the three partners all face increasingly complex challenges that require \u201can unwavering commitment to the rules-based international order.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That was an indirect reference to China. The three allies have often accused Beijing of ignoring international rules as it moves to expand its reach in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

More directly, the joint statement expressed the three nations\u2019 steadfast opposition to \u201cthe dangerous and coercive use\u201d by China of its coast guard and maritime militia ships in the South China Sea \u201cas well as efforts to disrupt other countries\u2019 offshore resource exploration.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe reiterate serious concern over [China\u2019s] repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels\u2019 exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and the disruption of supply lines to Second Thomas Shoal,\u201d it said, referring to a reef also known as Ayungin Shoal, which lies in South China Sea waters within the Philippines\u2019 exclusive economic zone.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Japan, for its part, is locked in a territorial dispute with China in the East China Sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In their statement, the leaders reiterated their \u201cstrong opposition to any attempts by the PRC [People\u2019s Republic of China] to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This includes \u201cactions that seek to undermine Japan\u2019s longstanding and peaceful administration of the Senkaku Islands.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province, the leaders meanwhile affirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a meeting that looks ahead. As we deepen our ties and enhance our coordination, we seek to identify ways of growing our economies and making them more resilient, climate-proofing our cities and our societies, sustaining our development progress, and forging a peaceful world for the next generation,\u201d Marcos said.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Summit-folo-3.jpg\"\n
Demonstrators rally outside the White House in Washington to protest the visit of Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., April 11, 2024. (Drew Angerer \/AFP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Marcos\u2019 father was a staunch ally of the United States, which during the Cold War operated huge naval and air bases in areas where the hi-tech Luzon corridor is to be installed.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last year, Marcos Jr.\u2019s administration agreed to a controversial deal with Washington to grant the U.S. military greater access on a rotational basis to <\/span>bases<\/span><\/a> in the northern Philippines.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The agreement has angered anti-war activists in the Philippines, who warn it could provoke Beijing and that their country could be caught in the middle of fighting should a conflict break out between the U.S. and China over Taiwan. On Thursday, protesters gathered near the White House as well as outside the U.S. Embassy in Manila to denounce the bilateral pact.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2018In lockstep\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Biden reiterated that his administration\u2019s support for Manila was \u201cironclad\u201d and that the two countries were bound by a mutual treaty to defend each other in times of foreign aggression. This decades-old pact was updated recently to cover civilian vessels, as well as ships from the Philippine Coast Guard.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cAny attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our Mutual Defense Treaty,\u201d Biden said in remarks at the White House.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Summit-folo-4.jpg\"\n
In this handout photo received through the U.S. Embassy in Manila, two Philippine Air Force FA-50s (left) fly alongside two U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles over the South China Sea during joint maritime and air patrols, Nov. 21, 2023. (Airman 1st Class Alexis Redin\/U.S. Air Force\/AFP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

On Friday, the national security advisers of the Philippines and the United States, together with their respective defense chiefs and top diplomats, took part in an unprecedented \u201c3+3\u201d meeting in Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cOur alliance is stronger than ever,\u201d U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said before the meeting at the State Department. At the Pentagon, \u201cwe\u2019re working in lockstep with our colleagues at the [Philippine] Department of National Defense to strengthen interoperability between our forces, to expand our operational coordination, and to stand up to coercion in the South China Sea.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last year, the two allies launched joint <\/span>sea and air patrols<\/span><\/a> in the contested waterway.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Summit-folo-5.jpg\"\n
U.S. Marines with the First Marine Expeditionary Force conduct close-quarter battle operations along with their Filipino counterparts as part of the Marine Exercise 2024 at Camp Abubakar in Sultan Kudarat, southern Philippines, April 11, 2024. (Mark Navales\/BenarNews)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Beijing, China\u2019s foreign ministry criticized the summit in Washington as \u201cbloc politics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe firmly oppose any acts that stoke and drive up tensions and harm other countries\u2019 strategic security and interests,\u201d ministry spokeswoman <\/span>Mao Ning<\/span><\/a> said during a regularly scheduled news conference on Friday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seriously against forming exclusive groupings in this region. Japan and the Philippines have every right to develop normal relations with other countries, but they should not introduce bloc confrontation into this region,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Economic projects<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

During their meeting on Thursday, Marcos, Biden and Kishida also launched the \u201cLuzon Corridor\u201d \u2013 where they pledged to accelerate coordinated investments in high-impact projects including Subic Bay and Clark north of Manila.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Those were the sites of two of America\u2019s largest overseas bases until a nationalist Philippine senate voted to end their lease in the early 1990s.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The corridor, they said, symbolized their \u201cenhanced economic cooperation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cJapan, the Philippines and the United States are also partnering to expand cooperation and investments in other areas of the Philippines,\u201d they said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The U.S. State Department said that the Luzon Corridor was expected to have an \u201coutsized impact\u201d on critical industries, including semiconductors. As part of the plan, the U.S. government would seek to partner with multilateral development institutions as well as the private sector to deploy capital and spur economic activity across the corridor.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2018Windfall\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Defense analyst Chester Cabalza, the founding president of International Development and Security Cooperation, a Philippines think-tank, said both Washington and Tokyo were rewarding Manila for its principled stand on the South China Sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cabalza said it couldn\u2019t get any clearer than that, and the \u201cwindfall of economic pledges\u201d was clearly a reward of sorts.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThese grew from the bravery of fighting for free and open trade in the Indo-Pacific and by supporting American and Japanese deterrence against a Chinese agenda of dominance in the contested waters,\u201d Cabalza told BenarNews on Friday, noting that both industrialized nations had to \u201cprepare against China\u2019s increasing military might\u201d including by way of forging alliances.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an experimental forging of allegiance for a plausible shooting war in the region,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The analyst noted that the three-nation partnership could boost business confidence, and added that any country could counter China without fear of losing out from Beijing\u2019s much-touted economic prowess.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The triumvirate has a combined gross domestic product output that \u201cis far greater than China to counter China\u2019s affluence and influence in Southeast Asia,\u201d Cabalza said.<\/span><\/p>\n

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n


\r\nThis content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia<\/a> and was authored by By Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.
<\/p>\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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