‘As Duterte tried his best to assuage China, his foreign affairs secretary, Teodoro Locsin Jr. was in Liverpool, United Kingdom meeting with Victoria Nuland, the US Undersecretary of State for political affairs, to further strengthen Philippine relations with America.’
THERE shouldn’t be any need for President Rodrigo Duterte to reiterate that the Philippines is a friend of China, and that the country is exceedingly grateful for all that China did in assisting us fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Duterte even mentioned in his late-night Talk to the People that without China’s donation of the first doses of Sinovac, the nation would not have started the vaccination rollout.
These statements of assurance were made by the President right after he accepted US President Joe Biden’s invitation to speak at the Summit for Democracy. The virtual meeting is Biden’s public relations initiative to bolster his country’s claim as the champion of democratic governance in the world, elbowing China and Russia to the sidelines.
As Duterte tried his best to assuage China, his foreign affairs secretary, Teodoro Locsin Jr. was in Liverpool, United Kingdom meeting with Victoria Nuland, the US Undersecretary of State for political affairs, to further strengthen Philippine relations with America. The two diplomats talked on the sidelines of the G7 Ministerial Meetings in Liverpool held from December 10 to 12.
Locsin and Nuland discussed various ways to bolster the alliance between the two countries with more high-level visits, meetings, and defense-related activities in the first half of 2022.
Secretary Locsin said he was pleased with the US’ firm assurances that it continues to regard the Philippines as a crucial ally in the region, and that “it stands ready to support the Philippines, including against armed attacks on our armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific.”
News reports said Nuland raised points on how to string together support for the “rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region,” which is American diplomatese to refer to its policy of so-called upholding the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, which goes against China’s perceived expansionist designs in that part of the planet.
“We are proud to stand with you and we are very proud to see how you stood for international law,” Nuland told Locsin.
The two officials also discussed the next steps to strengthen relations and cooperation within the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the United Nations to address current and emerging challenges. Locsin and Nuland also tackled preparations for the Special US-Asean Summit the US is proposing to host in January.
The Duterte administration is serious in its “friend to all, enemy to none” foreign policy while taking care to nourish old and reliable alliances, which is a step in the right direction.
