Trilateral deal to change SCS dynamic Marcos

A cooperation agreement among the Philippines, the United States and Japan will change the dynamic in the South China Sea and the region, President Marcos said on Friday, while seeking to assure China it was not a target.

- HELEN FLORES

"I think the trilateral agreement is extremely important," Marcos told a press conference in Washington, a day after meeting US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the nations' first trilateral summit.

"It is going to change the dynamic, the dynamic that we see in the region, in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), in Asia, around the South China Sea," the chief executive added.

The three leaders expressed "serious concerns" about China's "dangerous and aggressive behavior" in the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce with various maritime disputes among China and other countries.

Still, Marcos said the summit was "not against any country" but had focused on deepening economic and security relations between Manila, Washington and Tokyo.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration found Beijing's sweeping claims had no legal basis.

Philippine and Chinese ships have had a series of run-ins in the past month that included the use of water cannons by the latter and heated verbal exchanges.