BANGKOK — A top State Department official met Thursday with Philippine President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila, part of an ongoing diplomatic outreach in the Asia-Pacific region by Washington to try and blunt growing Chinese influence.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman tweeted after meeting Marcos that the two discussed a range of issues, including the Philippines-U.S. alliance, deepening economic ties, advancing human rights and “preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Marcos, the son of longtime Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. who was ousted in a popular uprising in 1986, was elected in a landslide last month, alarming human rights activists and pro-democracy groups.
The U.S. appears prepared to work with him, with President Joe Biden being one of the first world leaders to call Marcos and congratulate him on his electoral victory.
After the meeting with Sherman, Marcos’ spokesman Victor Rodriguez said the two had “discussed the importance of deepening the alliance and friendship between the Philippines and the United States, as well as partnering together in order to strengthen the economy between the two countries.”
Sherman’s trip comes as part of a broader effort to reach out in person to leaders in the region as concern increases over China’s push to expand its own influence in a strategically critical area.
It includes the South China Sea, where the Philippines and Vietnam, among others, have squared off with China’s efforts to dominate the strategic waterway it claims virtually in its entirety. The U.S. and its allies have responded with freedom of navigation patrols, sometimes encountering a pushback from China’s military.
Sherman is also making stops in South Korea, Laos and Vietnam. U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet is also in the region, meeting with officials in Thailand, Singapore and Brunei.
The State Department said the two trips highlight American commitment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a 10-member regional bloc known as ASEAN, as well as Washington’s bilateral partnerships.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is also a featured speaker on the weekend at the Shangra-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia’s premier defense and security forum.
At the end of May in Japan, Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a new trade deal that so far 12 nations have signed on to.
“There are several components to our Indo-Pacific strategy, from advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific where we can deal with problems openly and have rules that are transparently and fairly applied,” Chollet told The Diplomat online news magazine in an article this week.
“The second part of the strategy is forging stronger connections within the region and beyond,” he said.
Read More: U.S. State Department official meets with Philippines’ president-elect