The Philippines Finds Itself Trapped Between Surging Trump And Rising China Tensions

MANILA, Philippines — Last month, China’s coast guard attacked Filipino troops with axes and knives, ramming vessels on a routine mission to resupply a Philippine outpost on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea and severing the thumb of one sailor.

A week later, the Philippines found itself bracing for the United States — a long-standing ally and defense partner — to withdraw from global affairs as Donald Trump makes gains ahead of November’s election for the White House.

A withered performance by 81-year-old U.S. President Joe Biden during his first debate of the season against 78-year-old Trump saw the right-wing populist former president surge in electoral betting markets, prompting panicked Democrats to scramble for an alternative standard-bearer who could top the ticket — and many international observers to brace for the return of President Trump and his “America First” agenda.

“A U.S. abandonment of East Asia would force weaker countries in the region to, without choice, accept China’s carrot-stick hegemony,” Rep. Mark Cojuangco, a national lawmaker in the Philippines’ House of Representatives, told HuffPost. “We would lose our territorial integrity, and American ‘commitment’ would always be doubted going forward.”

During Trump’s administration, the Philippines was ruled by then-President Rodrigo Duterte, a similarly brash populist who lashed out at Washington and sought to forge closer ties with Beijing. But increasingly aggressive Chinese actions to claim uninhabited islands and fishing grounds in waters internationally recognized as part of the Philippines have driven current President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to shore up relations with the U.S.

Marcos, 66, the namesake son of a former dictator, cast