'Our commitment is ironclad': Biden vows to defend Philippines from any attack in South China Sea

Amid the brewing tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, US President Joe Biden pledged to defend the Phillippines from any sort of attacks in the South China Sea.

The proclamation from the American commander-in-chief came as he hosted the first trilateral summit with Manila and Tokyo. The declaration from Biden can be considered a stern warning for China whose growing assertiveness in the region has raised the alarms.

“The United States’ defence commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad,” the US president said on Thursday as he met the Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, The Guardian reported.

The trilateral summit organised at the White House came after a confrontation between Beijing and Manilla intensified in the disputed waterways.

“Any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defence treaty,” he added. The POTUS echoed the same sentiment when he met the Philippine president at the White House last year.

It is important to note that China claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea and has time and again brushed aside competing claims made by several Southeast Asian nations including the Phillippines.

An historic meeting

The increasing tensions in the region in recent years have prompted Biden to boost alliances in the region. As they conducted talks at the grand East Room of the US presidential residence, the three world leaders hailed the meeting and called it “historic”.

The three leaders reiterated that their alliance is the bedrock of “peace and democracy” in the Asia-Pacific region, The Guardian reported.

During the meeting, Kishida said that “multi-layered cooperation is essential” and that “today’s meeting will make history.” The 81-year-old president also held separate talks with Marcos shortly after the meeting.

The joint summit came a day after the US President hosted a lavish state visit to the Japanese premier. During the grand ceremony, the two world leaders unveiled a historic upgrade in defence ties that aimed at China’s growing aggressiveness in the region.

Shortly after historic military agreements were announced, China slammed both the United States and Japan and said that they had “smeared” their reputation during this visit.

China’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said Washington and Tokyo had “attacked China on Taiwan and maritime issues, grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs, and seriously violated the basic norms governing international relations.”

With inputs from agencies