The US likes the new President Marcos, and the Filipinos like the Americans much more than the Chinese.
MANILA Vice President of the United States Terrible Harris stood on the deck of a Philippine Coast Guard vessel on Tuesday and delivered a powerful speech.
Harris assured (you switch to another service) The United States would come to the aid of the Philippines if it were attacked in the South China Sea – in practice, if China attacked.
The White House had previously called the visit “historic”. It was the visit of the highest US official ever to the island of Palawan.
Palawan is the part of the Philippines that is closest to the South China Sea and its disputed islets. Many Southeast Asian countries are fighting with China for the control of the Spratly Islands, with the Philippines at the forefront.
Tensions in the maritime area are high right now, when relations between the United States and China are at their worst for a long time due to, among other things, the status of Taiwan.
Just a day before Harris’ visit, the Philippine Coast Guard said China had seized parts of a Chinese rocket that fell into the sea. The Philippines plans to send a diplomatic letter to China sheet music (you switch to another service).
Harris’s visit was not only a show of support for the Philippines, an important strategic partner of the United States, but also a warning to China.
The new president brought a new beginning to relations
Traffic from the US to the Philippines has been brisk lately.
President Ferdinand Marcos Junior has only been in office for a little over four months, but they have been in the country even before Harris visited (you move to another service) From the United States, for example, the foreign minister, the deputy foreign minister and a number of generals.
President of the United States Joe Biden and President Marcos met in the fall in New York.
The US Ambassador to the Philippines has called for the attention shown by the Americans to the Philippines “unprecedented (you switch to another service)“.
The Philippines is a former US base country and its long-time ally in Asia. However, the relations between the two countries went cold under the previous president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte during.
Outspoken Duterte cared little about the special relationship with the former motherland and flirted with China. He barked at the former president of the United States Barack Obama among other things “huoranpenikaks” (you switch to another service).
When Marcos replaced Duterte in the summer, there was a sigh of relief in Washington. The Americans began a frantic revival of relations and put Marcos’ own reputational problems in the folder.
Marcos Junior has been sued in the United States for failure to pay damages related to his father, the dictator of Ferdinand Marcos to early human rights violations. As head of state, Marcos Junior now received a legal right from the United States immunity (you switch to another service).
The US needs the Philippines to defend Taiwan
It is above all about geography. The northernmost island of the Philippines is only 140 kilometers from Taiwan, which has become the focal point of the ideological struggle between the superpowers.
China claims that the island of Taiwan belongs to it, but the United States supports Taiwan’s democracy and self-rule. Biden’s mouth has been heard increasingly advanced (you switch to another service) statements about the United States’ desire to defend the island should China attempt to seize it.
Deterrence – and a possible first response – should then come from Philippine soil.
The United States currently has five temporary bases in the Philippines, but would like to double (you switch to another service) their number to ten. This has probably been one of the topics of Harris’s visit.
There has been a mutual defense agreement between the two countries since the 1950s.
However, not all Filipinos are excited (you switch to another service) on increasing the US military presence in the country.
They fear that the Philippines will become a pawn to be dragged into the American war. President Marcos said (you switch to another service) last week to the Chinese leader to Xi Jinpingthat the Philippines is not going to fall into a “Cold War mindset.”
Filipinos also want their share of Chinese investment. Countries are currently planning, for example railways (you switch to another service) construction in the Philippines.
On the other hand, the Philippine Army is in poor condition (you switch to another service) and the country’s defense relies heavily on US military aid.
The choice is difficult: if the Philippines wants the support of the United States in the South China Sea disputes, the United States wants the Philippines’ support in the Taiwan disputes.
If you ask the people, the sympathies of the Filipinos are significantly more on the side of the Americans than the Chinese. Of Filipinos 89 percent (you switch to another service) trust the United States a lot or quite a lot, while only 33 percent say the same about China.
And Kamala Harris didn’t come to Manila empty-handed either. During his visit, it was announced that the United States about additional bets (you switch to another service) among other things for the Philippines’ corona vaccine procurement, nuclear energy and the 5g network.
You can discuss the topic until Thursday 24 November. until 11 p.m.
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