Marcos to meet with Blinken next week as South China Sea tensions rise

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday next week to tackle cooperation and security matters, the office of the Manila leader said in a statement late on Wednesday night.

Their meeting comes on the heels of heightened tensions between the Philippines and China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Marcos also vowed to defend the Philippines' maritime claims after Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the armed forces to coordinate preparations for military conflicts at sea.

"So, I’m not surprised, but we will have to continue to do what we can to defend our maritime territory in the face of perhaps a more active attempt by the Chinese to annex some of our territory,” Marcos told a news conference during a working visit to Berlin this week.

A 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague found that China's sweeping claims over the South China Sea had no legal basis, but Beijing has rejected the ruling, claiming "indisputable sovereignty" over most of the region.

Philippine government sources earlier said Blinken and Japan Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa will visit Manila next week for talks focusing on bolstering defense and economic ties ahead of a summit of their leaders in US in April.

Meeting with Manalo

While in the Philippines, Blinken will also meet with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo to discuss increasing alarm over hostilities in the disputed South China Sea and bumping up economic cooperation, Philippine government sources said Thursday.

Blinken will fly to Manila on the night of March 18 after attending the U.S.-initiated Summit for Democracy gathering in South Korea. His meeting with Marcos and other officials is set for March 19, Philippine officials said.

When Blinken holds talks with Manalo, the continuing hostilities in the South China Sea, which the Philippines and the United States blame on Chinese aggression, will be among the issues at the top of the agenda aside from a renewed thrust by the Biden administration to further expand US trade and investment in the Philippines, a Philippine government source told GMA News Online.

Blinken's visit to Manila is the latest by top US officials this year, underscoring Washington's high-profile support to its longtime treaty ally at a time of heightened conflicts between China and the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, or South China Sea, particularly in the Ayungin Shoal, also known by its international name Second Thomas Shoal, and the Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo just concluded a trip to the Philippines this week with executives of 22 American companies. She announced new trade and investments in the Philippines worth more than $1 billion. Admiral John Aquilino, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific command, also traveled to the Philippines this week.

March 5 incident

In one of the alarming hostilities at the Ayungin Shoal on March 5, Chinese Coast Guard ships blocked, shadowed and surrounded Philippine Coast Guard and supply vessels. Four Philippine Navy personnel aboard Unaizah May 4, which was carrying Western Command commander Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, were injured after water cannon blasts from two Chinese Coast Guard ships shattered its windshields and prevented it from delivering supplies to Filipino navy personnel posted at the disputed shoal.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) summoned the Chinese Embassy’s deputy ambassador to convey a strongly worded protest.

The US State Department immediately condemned China's "repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels’ exercise of high-seas freedom of navigation and its disruption of supply lines to this longstanding outpost."

The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, meanwhile, lodged representations with the DFA where it "expressed strong protests over the illegal trespassing on Ren’ai Jiao (Ayungin Shoal) by Philippine vessels" in response to the March 5 incident.

In a statement, the embassy pointed out that the Philippine vessels "intruded into the waters adjacent to the Ren'ai Jiao of China's Nansha Islands without the permission of the Chinese government."

It claimed that the Philippines was attempting to deliver supplies, including construction materials to the BRP Sierra Madre, a warship it considers was "illegally grounded."

Japan

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa was scheduled to fly to Manila from the US to join Blinken and Manalo for a trilateral meeting but last-minute scheduling conflicts emerged and both sides expressed hope that the three-way talks would still push through, three officials involved in the preparations of the visit told GMA News Online.

"As for Japan, it's not confirmed if they will be coming or not, but at this stage, we haven't received any confirmation," Manalo told reporters in Berlin in a news briefing, where Marcos expressed hope of a stronger trilateral cooperation when he, Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meet in planned talks at the White House next month.

"We hope the intention is to continue to plan, to strengthen the cooperation between the three countries – the United States, Japan and the Philippines," Marcos told reporters Wednesday as he concluded a visit to Germany. —with Michaela del Callar/KBK, GMA Integrated News