Blinken underscores ‘ironclad’ support for the Philippines

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a meeting with Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Pic/AP

Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored Washington's "ironclad commitment" Tuesday to help defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack against its forces after clashes between Chinese and Filipino coast guards in the disputed South China Sea recently turned more hostile. Blinken, the latest high-level official to visit the United States treaty ally, met his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo on Tuesday before planned meetings with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other top officials in Manila.

President Joe Biden will host Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a White House summit in April. They are likely to discuss growing concerns over increasingly aggressive Chinese actions in the South China Sea and North Korea's nuclear program. "We stand with the Philippines and stand by our ironclad defense commitments, including under the Mutual Defense Treaty," Blinken said in a news conference with Manalo.

"We have a shared concern about the PRC's actions that threaten our common vision for a free, open Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Sea and in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone," Blinken said, using the abbreviation for the People's Republic of China. He cited "repeated violations of international law and the rights of the Philippines: water cannons, blocking maneuvers, close shadowing and other dangerous operations."

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