Biden vows to defend Philippines from attack in South China Sea

Joe Biden has said Washington’s commitment to defending its allies in East Asia was “ironclad” as he promised to back Philippines against China’s attacks in the disputed South China Sea.

The US president met Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on Thursday as tensions and concerns about provocative Chinese military action in the Indo-Pacific continued to surge.

“The United States’ defence commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad,” the US president said during his first-ever trilateral summit with the leaders from both the Asian nations.

“As I said before, any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defence treaty,” Mr Biden said.

The naval forces of China and Philippines have had direct confrontation in the South China Sea, especially in the disputed reef of Second Thomas. While Beijing claims direct ownership of the submerged reef, the Philippines has a garrison sitting atop a grounded warship in the waters.

The White House has called the trilateral meeting as a potent response from the US, Japan and the Philippines to China’s repeated “intimidation” attempts. A Biden administration official said that this first-ever meeting will send a message that China is “the outlier in the neighbourhood”.

According to a statement from the White House, Mr Biden and Mr Marcos during the talks “underscored their commitment to international law in the South China Sea” and reaffirmed their countries’ treaty obligations to defend each other.

Japan, Philippines and the US will also hold joint patrols in the Indo-Pacific region this year, a form of a follow-up on law enforcement drills carried out