Blinken, Austin, Sullivan Meet With Top Philippines Officials At The State Department

5 months ago

Top U.S. officials meet with top officials from the Philippines at the State Department.

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Transcript

00:00SECRETARY BLINKEN.

00:01Good morning, everyone.

00:02Secretary Manalo, Secretary De Oro, Advisor Año, wonderful to welcome you here to the

00:06State Department.

00:09Today's meeting follows the meeting between our presidents yesterday and the historic

00:14trilateral meeting with President Marcos, Prime Minister Kishida, and President Biden.

00:21And I think today's meeting, an unprecedented three-plus-three, reflects the growing and

00:27deepening cooperation between our countries on a broad array of issues and, of course,

00:32our shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Seas.

00:38We very much welcome this opportunity to pursue that cooperation, collaboration, and, of course,

00:46we stand with the Philippines in our ironclad defense commitments, including the Mutual

00:51Defense Treaty.

00:53Ricky, with that, let me welcome you and give you the microphone.

00:57MR.

00:58SECRETARY BLINKEN.

00:59Thank you very much, Tony.

01:01Good morning, Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

01:07Great pleasure to be here with my colleagues.

01:09As you mentioned, in a way, today's meeting of the three-plus-three is also a historic

01:14meeting as it follows on the heels of the even more historic trilateral summit yesterday.

01:20I just wanted to mention that we attach a lot of importance to this meeting, especially

01:25in the light of recent developments in the South China Sea, especially China's escalation

01:33of its harassment, resulting most recently in the injury of four Filipino seamen.

01:39But more importantly, we are determined to assert our sovereign rights, especially within

01:45our exclusive economic zone, and in accordance with the UNCLOS and the arbitral ruling.

01:53I think our meeting today will enable us to hopefully be in a better position to coordinate

01:59our responses, both diplomatic and on the defense and security fronts, in relation to

02:05any actions the South China Sea, whether they're positive or negative, including in the Yuen

02:11Shoal.

02:12So we also hope that this three-plus-three meeting will be a regular event and also reinforce

02:20our regular bilateral strategic dialogue, as well as our ongoing maritime dialogue.

02:26And finally, we do underscore the need to continue further clarificatory discussions

02:33on the MDT, as we think this would also help in deterring further escalation by China.

02:40Thank you.

02:43Thanks, Tony.

02:44Good morning, and it's great to be here with everyone.

02:48This is a historic meeting.

02:50It's the first time that all six of us have gathered to discuss the diplomatic and defense

02:55priorities at the heart of our alliance.

02:59Under the leadership of President Biden and President Marcos, our alliance is stronger

03:03than ever.

03:04And today, we'll discuss a whole-of-government vision for this alliance.

03:09We all know that our shared security relies on strong military bonds, shared economic

03:15opportunities, and robust people-to-people ties.

03:20And at the Department of Defense, we're working in lockstep with our colleagues at the Department

03:24of National Defense to strengthen interoperability between our forces, to expand our operational

03:31coordination, and to stand up to coercion in the South China Sea.

03:37And our commitment, as the Secretary of State said just a couple of seconds ago, our commitment

03:42to our mutual defense treaty with the Philippines remains ironclad.

03:47And later today, I'll be hosting President Marcos at the Pentagon, and I'll share with

03:53you what I'm going to tell him, and that is that the United States and the Philippines

03:58are more than allies.

03:59We're family.

04:01And thanks again, and I look forward to a great discussion.

04:04Thank you very much.

04:05Mr. Secretary.

04:06Thank you, Mr. Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin, our honorable counterparts and colleagues.

04:14Following on from what Secretary Austin had already said, it's indeed an honor to represent

04:20the Department of National Defense of the Philippines in this historic meeting today.

04:26And it will be an opportunity to have a fresh, open, and candid discussion of our department's

04:33objectives in line of the broader strategy of a free and open Indo-Pacific, because this

04:42is the area where interests converge.

04:45And in doing so, we hope that the family becomes a stronger family with bonds of a shared vision,

04:53not only for today, but for the future generations.

04:56Thank you very much.

04:57Well, I want to thank my Philippines counterparts for being here.

05:03I want to say I'm honored to be at this unprecedented 3 plus 3 meeting.

05:08And our presidents, each of our presidents tasked us to work across our governments,

05:13and then to work across this alliance to make sure that we not only reaffirm the alliance

05:19between the U.S. and the Philippines, but we put the alliance commitments at the heart

05:22of it into practice, that we operationalize it, that we execute it, and that we do so

05:27entirely in lockstep.

05:29So I look forward to the discussion today.

05:34Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, NSA Sullivan, first allow me to thank the United States

05:40government for hosting the historic inaugural Trilateral Leaders Summit yesterday.

05:47I'm honored for the opportunity to be part of the whole process that began during the

05:51inaugural Trilateral National Security Advisors Meeting in Tokyo last June.

05:58Using this momentum, we are now here for another milestone, the first bilateral 3 plus 3 ministers

06:05meeting.

06:06So thank you also for hosting this occasion, and I look forward to insightful and fruitful

06:11discussions.

06:12This will further concretize our deepening security partnership and enduring alliance

06:18grounded on shared democratic values and aspirations of our peoples, with activities

06:24carefully curated to achieve our collective goals.

06:28Thank you and magandang umaga.

Blinken, Austin, Sullivan Meet With Top Philippines Officials At The State Department

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