“That’s why we stand with the Philippines and stand by our ironclad defence commitments, including under the mutual defence treaty.”Blinken’s trip comes ahead of a trilateral meeting in Washington next month between US President Joe Biden, Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.Announcing the three-way summit with the Asia-Pacific allies, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the leaders would push a “shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific”.Blinken will meet with Marcos later Tuesday where he is expected to reaffirm the United States’ security commitments to the Philippines.Top US officials have repeatedly said that “an armed attack” against Philippine public vessels, aircraft, armed forces and coastguard would invoke the 1951 US-Philippines mutual defence treaty in which Washington is obliged to defend its ally.Marcos has expressed “great alarm” over the recent confrontations that have sparked diplomatic sparring between Manila and Beijing.Ahead of his meetings, Blinken toured a semiconductor plant. He described the Philippines as “an increasingly critical partner” in ensuring a “resilient” supply chain of chips.The United States is seeking to cement its lead in the chip industry both on national security grounds and in the face of competition from China.
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