Harris meets Marcos as U.S. reaffirms Philippines security pledge<<<美軍撤守？

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Harris meets Marcos as U.S. reaffirms Philippines security pledge
Vice president to make historic visit to island facing South China Sea

CLIFF VENZON, Nikkei staff writerNovember 21, 2022 15:35 JST

MANILA -- U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday reaffirmed Washington's "unwavering" security guarantees to the Philippines in a bilateral meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila.

Harris arrived in the Philippines late Sunday after attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok. She is the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the Southeast Asian nation under Marcos, who has sought to reinvigorate ties with Washington.

The U.S. has had a rocky relationship with its oldest Asian ally under Marcos' predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who had shifted the country closer to China.

"We must reiterate always that we stand with you in defense of international rules and norms as it relates to the South China Sea," Harris said during the meeting at the Malacanang presidential palace.

"An armed attack on the Philippines' armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments. And that is an unwavering commitment that we have to the Philippines."

Marcos, who spoke before Harris, recognized Manila's long-standing alliance with Washington.

"I have said many times, I do not see a future for the Philippines that does not include the United States. That really has come from the very long relationship that we have had with the U.S.," Marcos said.

Security is at the top of the vice president's agenda. Harris on Tuesday will visit Palawan, an island province that faces the contested South China Sea, a strategic waterway where Beijing has flexed its military muscle to assert its expansive territorial claims. Manila in 2016 won an arbitration case that invalidated China's expansive maritime claims, but Beijing has repeatedly rejected the ruling.

Harris is expected to discuss wide-ranging aspects of U.S.-Philippines bilateral relations -- from defense to trade and investments.

The vice president will seek to bolster security cooperation through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which gives the U.S. armed forces access to Philippine military bases, a senior U.S. administration said on Sunday. Washington, the official said, has allocated $82 million for EDCA's implementation "and more is on the way"

"They here are currently five EDCA locations. And we're announcing now that we have identified new locations to deepen our work together," the official said.

Philippine officials last week said they were considering additional sites in Palawan and in the northern province of Cagayan, which faces Taiwan.

Before her trip to the Philippines, Harris spoke briefly with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit. She talked about maintaining "open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries," remarks that echoed President Joe Biden's message during his summit with his Chinese counterpart in Bali on Nov. 14.

China's Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said it hoped Harris would play a "positive role" in "bringing China-U.S. relations back on the track of healthy and steady development."

In Manila, Harris is also expected to launch initiatives aimed at bolstering economic ties with the Philippines. The vice president will announce the start of negotiations aimed at allowing civil nuclear cooperation. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency will also open an office within the U.S. Embassy in Manila to facilitate investments in energy and infrastructure, which are key priorities for Marcos.

Harris held a separate bilateral meeting with Vice President Sara Duterte before meeting with Marcos.

According to the U.S. official, she will also participate in a town hall meeting with young Filipina women, and meet with activists to demonstrate Washington's "continued support for human rights and democratic resilience," in a country where "human rights defenders, political activists and politicians were subjected to unlawful killings, arbitrary arrest and detention and harassment," according to Amnesty International.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics ... nes-security-pledge
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台灣呢？要為美國在菲律賓卡加煙省部屬歡呼嗎？要為美國在與那國嶼部屬歡呼嗎？台灣有那麼天真嗎？也許在政客洗腦下，真有人會相信，此舉是協防台灣。搖頭！
台積電工程人員，陸陸續續搭機移往美國，張忠謀也說尖端的三奈米製程技術要輸往美國，還不夠明顯嗎？還認為美國會固守台灣嗎？
每當在公園運動，看到巴克禮顯目的招牌，不禁燃起莫名的悲哀！

自己也國家自己救，靠別郎穩死也！