MANILA – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has affirmed the United States’ commitment to sustaining its trilateral cooperation with the Philippines and Japan under the administration of President Donald Trump.
The new US top diplomat made the reiteration during a bilateral meeting with Japan’s Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi in Washington DC on January 22 (Manila time).
In a readout, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “The two Ministers concurred on the importance of further developing coordination of like-minded countries, including Japan-US-Republic of Korea, Japan-Australia-India-US, and Japan-US-Philippines.”
A separate State Department statement said the two officials also discussed how the US and Japan can work together “to counter ongoing threats in the Indo-Pacific and around the world, including joint efforts against China’s destabilizing actions”.
READ: Trump’s top diplomat pick: China must ‘stop messing around’ with PH
Tokyo earlier emphasized the need for US presence in Asia, especially amid what it described as an “increasingly severe strategic environment” in the region.
In his visit to Manila on January 15, Iwaya said the trilateral Japan-US-Philippines relations are a “highly important framework” in realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“Southeast Asia is located at a strategic pivot in the Indo-Pacific and is a world growth center, thus partnership with Southeast Asia is vital for regional peace and stability,” he said in a joint presser with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.
“We will approach the next US administration to convey that constructive commitment of the United States in this region is important, also for the United States itself,” he added.
Also on Wednesday, the foreign ministers of QUAD member states—Rubio, Iwaya, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong— reaffirmed their “shared commitment to strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific where the rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are upheld and defended”.
During his confirmation hearing, Rubio described Beijing’s actions in the Asia Pacific as “deeply destabilizing” and urged China to refrain from carrying out “anything rash or irrational” when it comes to the Philippines or Taiwan if it is serious about stabilizing US-China relations. (PNA)