As the provisional agreement between the Philippines and China concerning the resupply of Filipino troops shows cracks, the United States has stepped in to reinforce the principle of freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea.
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Manila on July 30 to hold the 2+2 ministerial dialogue with their Filipino counterparts, Philippines’ Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo and Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr.
The fourth iteration of the dialogue comes after a period of high tension between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea. The officials also visited Subic Bay, which was once home to a key US Naval base.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote on the social media site X: “It was great to visit Subic Bay, including the headquarters of the Philippine Navy, at a time when we’re doing more than ever to deepen our defense industrial cooperation and support the Philippine military’s modernization.”
