THE White House is arranging a trilateral summit with US President Joseph Biden Jr., President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on April 11, amid China’s rise and increasing presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
This will be the first time that the Philippines, the US and Japan heads of governments will hold a trilateral meeting.
Last year, US, Japan and South Korea also had a trilateral summit at Camp David.
On the same day, Biden and Marcos will also have a separate bilateral meeting.
New horizon of cooperation
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the event will also be an opportunity for the Philippine and American government to expand their areas of cooperation.
“I think a new horizon of cooperation is also incredibly promising, but it is also building on the very strong foundation of our countries,” Blinken told Marcos during their meeting in Malacañang Tuesday.
Among the issues to be discussed in the meeting are maritime cooperation, infrastructure development, economic resiliency, trade and investments, clean energy and the climate, as well as cyber security and the digital economy.
The trilateral meeting comes as the three countries expressed concern over the growing aggression of China in the South China Sea.
The day before the trilateral summit, the Japanese prime minister will have an official visit in the US, with a state dinner hosted by Biden.
The bilateral meeting between Kishida and Marcos is still being arranged, the Japanese Cabinet Minister said.
Trilateral defense partnership
The Biden-Kishida-Marcos summit aims to “advance a trilateral partnership” towards their “shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
The three countries also share a “deep historical ties of friendship, robust and economic relations and a proud and resolute commitment to shared democratic values.”
“The leaders will also reaffirm the ironclad alliances between the United States and the Philippines, and the United States and Japan,” the White House said in a statement.
The US has defense treaties with both the Philippines and Japan, which basically provides a security blanket for countries to help the other in case of attack by foreign aggressor. Tokyo and Manila are facing a belligerent China, whose Navy and Coast Guard have recently clashed with Philippine and Japanese maritime forces in the East China Sea and South China Sea.
Blinken, who was in Manila Tuesday, said his deputy, Kurt Campbell will be meeting his Philippine and Japanese counterparts to finalize the arrangements for the trilateral summit.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo also said leaders are also planning to “capitalize on the complementaries,” which exist in the bilateral cooperation between the Philippines, Japan and the US, including maritime security.
Trilateral economic partnership
Other areas of complementaries among the three countries are on the economic front, which are infrastructure and critical minerals, Manalo said.
The White House said the summit will also include in the agenda the promotion of “inclusive economic growth and emerging technologies, advance clean energy supply chains and climate cooperation.”
Marcos-Biden meeting
The White House has also squeezed into Biden’s calendar a meeting with President Marcos on April 11.
This will be the fourth time that the two Presidents will meet in the first two years of the Marcos administration. The first US-Philippine leaders’ face-to-face meeting was during the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2022, the second was during Marcos’ official visit to Washington DC in May 2023, and the fourth was during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco.
The White House said the two leaders will “review the historic momentum in US-Philippines relations and discuss efforts to expand cooperation on economic security, clean energy, people-to-people ties, and human rights and democracy.”
“The President will reaffirm the ironclad alliance between the United States and the Philippines and emphasize US commitment to upholding international law and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific,” it added.