South China Sea: Marcos says Philippine deal with US, Japan to change dynamic in disputed waters, won’t affect Beijing trade

The Philippine president said the cooperation agreement signed in Washington will change the dynamic in Asean and around the contested waterway

He also said the summit was ‘not against any country’ and the business deals sealed at the meeting would not affect China’s investments in Manila

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From left: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, US President Joe Biden and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrive for a trilateral meeting at the White House on April 11. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 2:15pm, 13 Apr 2024

A cooperation agreement by the Philippines, the United States and Japan will change the dynamic in the South China Sea and the region, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said on Friday, while seeking to assure China it was not a target.

“I think the trilateral agreement is extremely important,” Marcos told a press conference in Washington a day after meeting President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the nations’ first trilateral summit.

“It is going to change the dynamic, the dynamic that we see in the region, in Asean in Asia, around the South China Sea,” Marcos said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The three leaders expressed “serious concerns” about China’s “dangerous and aggressive behaviour” in the South China Sea, a conduit for more than US$3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce with various maritime disputes among China and other countries.

Still, Marcos said the summit was “not against any country” but had focused on deepening economic and security relations among Manila, Washington and Tokyo.

Marcos also said the business deals that the Philippines secured at the summit will not affect China’s investments in the country.