The United States unlocked an “unprecedented” $500 million in security assistance for the Philippines during high-level talks in Manila on Tuesday amid heightened tensions in the disputed South China Sea, just months before the U.S. votes in a November presidential election that will have broad ramifications for Asia.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Philippine defense chief Gilberto Teodoro and Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo for the countries’ first-ever “two-plus-two” talks in Manila since the format began in 2012 as the officials agreed on key steps to bolster the Philippine military and continue modernizing the alliance.
"Our relationship ... is the strongest that it's ever been, and today's talks built on that unprecedented momentum in a number of very concrete ways,” Blinken told a joint news conference after the talks, adding that the U.S. commitment to defending its ally would “endure” no matter who wins the election.