US President Joe Biden on Thursday hosted the Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for the first-ever trilateral summit between the three countries and said that the US commitments to the defence of Japan and the Philippines remain “ironclad”.
Biden Promises ‘Ironclad’ Defence of Philippines, Japan
US President Joe Biden hosted the Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for the first-ever trilateral summit between the three countries and said that the US commitments to the defence of Japan and the Philippines remain “ironclad”. The meeting, which came amid separate territorial disputes involving Japan, the Philippines and China, saw the US President commit to standing in protection of both countries.
Three-way summit will also have a large economic component with several major U.S.-based companies — including Meta, UPS and Greenbrier Energy — announcing investments in the Philippines, administration officials said.
The United States, the United Kingdom and Japan on Wednesday announced joint military exercises in the Indo-Pacific in 2025. Japan and the Philippines both have separate territorial disputes with China, in the former’s case the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and in the latter’s areas of the South China Sea.
China Sanctions 2 US Defense Companies
China announced rare sanctions against two U.S. defense companies over what it said is their support for arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory to be recovered by force if necessary. The announcement freezes the assets of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems held within China. It also bars the companies’ management from entering the country.
Filings show General Dynamics operates a half-dozen Gulfstream and jet aviation services operations in China, which remains heavily reliant on foreign aerospace technology even as it attempts to build its own presence in the field.
