Biden receives Japanese and Filipino leaders to discuss China's aggression

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, received the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, and the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., at the White House on Thursday, with the aim of sending China a clear message that it must stop its aggressive behavior in the South China Sea.

“America's defense commitments to Japan and the Philippines are ironclad,” Biden said at the trilateral summit.

There has been growing tension between Manila and Beijing. In recent weeks, Chinese Coast Guard ships have taken provocative actions to block resupply missions by Filipino soldiers stationed at Second Thomas Shoal, who are protecting Manila's sovereignty claims over the Spratly Islands.

“Confronting the complex challenges of our time requires concerted efforts on the part of all, a dedication to a common purpose and an unwavering commitment to the rules-based international order,” Marcos said, couching his words in diplomatic terms often used to attack Beijing.

“Multi-level cooperation between allies and like-minded countries is essential if we are to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law,” Kishida reiterated.

Chinese bullying known as “gray zone tactics” is dangerously close to triggering a 1951 mutual defense treaty between Washington and Manila. Biden stressed the United States' commitment to the pact.

“Any attack on Philippine aircraft, ships or armed forces in the South China Sea will invoke our mutual defense treaty,” he said.

The leaders announced new deterrence measures, including in maritime defense, along with investments in infrastructure projects in the Philippines and collaboration on global humanitarian assistance efforts.

This is the second time Marcos has visited the Biden White House, following his visit in May last year. He is considered much more aligned with Washington than his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.

The Marcos government essentially doubled American access to Philippine bases earlier this year, announcing four new military bases in addition to the existing five. Manila is also negotiating with Japan on a reciprocal access agreement that would allow Japanese forces to enter Philippine soil.

Similar situations

Kishida's country faces similar Chinese gray zone tactics around disputed islands in the East China Sea, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan. In a joint speech to the US Congress on Thursday, he warned of the risks of China's rise and promised to do more to share defense responsibilities.

The key to leaders' discussions Thursday is working toward a shared understanding of what constitutes gray zone attacks and the treaty's threshold for application.

“We continue to coordinate very closely on the issue of China's so-called gray zone tactics, its coercive tactics and what the implications of those might be,” a senior administration official said in response to VOA's question during a briefing. on Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

The treaty between the United States and the Philippines extends to “armed attacks against the Armed Forces of the Philippines, public ships or aircraft,” the official stressed. “That includes your Coast Guard, and that includes anywhere in the South China Sea.”

Washington has been increasingly concerned about China's actions. While in the region last year, Vice President Kamala Harris stopped by the Philippine island of Palawan, just 330 kilometers east of the disputed Spratly Islands, in a rebuke to Beijing.

Blurred lines of attack

China's gray zone tactics have blurred the lines of what are traditionally considered armed attacks by using force that may not be intentionally lethal, such as military-grade lasers, acoustic devices, high-pressure water cannons, or simply ramming. ships, Gregory Poling said. director of the Southeast Asia Program and the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

“The problem is that these things are only non-lethal in a statistical sense,” Poling told VOA. “But if you do it enough, you'll kill someone.”

Manila and Washington would then have to determine whether to invoke mutual defense under the treaty, he added.

Both sides are realizing that “China has so blurred the lines with its Coast Guard and its militias,” he added, saying: “We cannot treat China the same way we treat normal armed actors, which China hides intentionally put their military force behind civilians. , and that we need to be more flexible in our responses.

Discussions are underway under the Maritime Security Framework signed by the United States and the Philippines in 2022. Also known as “Guardian of the Sea” or “Bantay Dagat” in Tagalog, the agreement aims to improve regional awareness on the maritime domain and face maritime challenges together. .

Last year, the defense secretaries of the United States and the Philippines established guidelines reaffirming that “an armed attack in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea, against any of its public ships, aircraft or armed forces (including its coast guard) would invoke mutual defense commitments under Articles IV and V of the United States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951.”

However, there is no clear, shared definition of gray zone tactics, which are difficult to incorporate into mutual defense treaties, said Shihoko Goto, director of the Wilson Center's Indo-Pacific Program.

He told VOA there is an increased focus on improving cyber defense and other non-kinetic capabilities for deterrence purposes. The summit will clarify the rules of conduct established to protect territorial borders, he added.

Dialogue with Beijing

Ahead of his trilateral summit with Marcos, Biden hosted Kishida for meetings and a state dinner on Wednesday.

Both insist on fostering dialogue with Beijing, even as the United States and Japan intensify their defense ties.

In his last phone conversation in April, Biden said he discussed with Chinese President Xi Jinping the “best way to reduce the chances of miscalculations and misunderstandings.”

The US alliance with Japan is “purely defensive,” Biden said during a joint news conference on Wednesday. “It is not directed at any particular nation nor is it a threat to the region.”

Speaking through an interpreter on Wednesday, Kishida said he and Biden “agreed that our two countries will continue to respond to China-related challenges through close coordination.”

Announced initiatives to improve bilateral defense ties and maritime cooperation in the South China Sea, as well as joint air defense and missile systems between the United States, Japan and Australia

Beijing said it opposes “improvising exclusive groupings and fueling bloc confrontation in the region.”

“Such practices – recomposing small blocks, promoting confrontation under the excuse of cooperation, defending peace and order in name but using military force and fueling chaos in nature – do not respond to the trend towards peace and development and go against the countries of the region. “Shared aspiration for stability and development,” said Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the United States, in a statement to VOA.

The US-Japan-Philippines trilateral is the first meeting of its kind and is part of Biden's strategy to unite existing bilateral alliances into these “minilaterals” to amplify US influence in Asia. Last year, he organized a similar meeting with Japan and South Korea to confront the North Korean threat.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels Youtube, WhatsApp and to newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.