The United States announced $500 million in foreign military financing for the Philippines on Tuesday, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with leaders in Manila to reinforce cooperation on issues such as freedom of navigation and cybersecurity.
Speaking at a joint news conference after talks with their Filipino counterparts, Austin called the financing a “once-in-a-generation investment” to help modernize the armed forces of the Philippines.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the military investments will boost the country’s credible defense posture and help to deter “unwanted and unlawful aggression.”
Blinken said both the United States and the Philippines, as well as other countries in the Indo-Pacific region, share concerns about China's actions in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. He welcomed a recent agreement between China and the Philippines to prevent clashes around the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, saying such diplomatic resolutions should be “the standard, not the exception.”
“We are living in an incredibly complex moment, and as a result, the partnership between our two countries is more important than ever and our commitment to growing it now and for the years ahead is resolute,” Blinken said.
Earlier Tuesday, Blinken and Austin reinforced U.S. commitment to “upholding international law in the South China Sea” as they met with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken reaffirmed U.S. support for the Philippines in defending its sovereign rights, and the two officials discussed the importance of preserving the rights of all nations to fly, sail, and operate – safely and responsibly – wherever international law allows,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the officials also underscored the United States’ ironclad commitments to the Philippines under our Mutual Defense Treaty.
"I'm always very happy that these communication lines are very open so that all the things that we are doing together, in terms of our alliance, in terms of the specific context of our situation here, in the West Philippine Sea and in the Indo-Pacific, are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in terms of our responses," Marcos said at the start of talks with Blinken and Austin.
Blinken highlighted what he called “a steady drumbeat of very high-level engagements between our countries that are covering the full range of issues and opportunities that bring us together – not only security but also economic.”
The talks in the Philippines were the latest in a series of engagements in the region, including a meeting Monday among the United States, Japan, India and Australia, as well as U.S.-Japan meetings.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
