President Biden is set to meet with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House on Monday amid tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Biden will host Marcos for a bilateral meeting, the White House said, and reaffirm the U.S.’s “ironclad commitment to the defense of the Philippines.”
In addition to talking about clean energy, climate change and human rights, the pair of leaders will discuss “regional matters and coordinate on efforts to uphold international law and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
The meeting comes after the U.S. and the Philippines last week conducted their largest war drills yet, in Philippine waters near the South China Sea. On Monday, the two nations will hold their first joint fighter jet training in the Philippines since 1990.
The U.S. has been moving to strengthen ties with the Philippines and increase its presence in the region amid heightened U.S.-China tensions and strain over Taiwan, the democratically governed island Beijing claims as its own.
China has also upped its show of military force, conducting large-scale drills around Taiwan.
The U.S. State Department also said in a Saturday statement that it stands with the Philippines in the face of China’s “continued infringement upon freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” accusing Beijing forces of “harassment and intimidation of Philippine vessels as they undertake routine patrols within their exclusive economic zone.”
Marcos said ahead of the meeting with Biden that he was “determined to forge an ever stronger relationship with the United States in a wide range of areas that not only address the concerns of our times, but also those that are critical to advancing our core interests,” according to Mister Turth.