hilippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and United States State Secretary Antony Blinken spoke early Thursday, June 20 (Wednesday, June 19 in the United States) about “the People’s Republic of China’s escalatory actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea,” the State Department said in a readout.
“Secretary Blinken emphasized that the PRC’s actions undermine regional peace and stability and underscored the United States’ ironclad commitments to the Philippines under our Mutual Defense Treaty. The Secretaries also exchanged views on how to build on momentum from recent high-level bilateral engagements on issues of shared concern,” the State Department said.
Manalo is in Greece for an official visit and will be back in Manila on Monday, June 24 yet, following another engagement in Cyprus.
The Philippines and the United States are treaty allies, bound by the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT). That means should the treaty be invoked, one country is expected to come to the other’s aid.
