Secretary Blinken’s Call with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Manalo

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo about the People’s Republic of China’s escalatory actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea.  Their discussion followed the PRC’s dangerous and irresponsible actions to deny the Philippines from executing a lawful maritime operation in the South China Sea on June 17.  Secretary Blinken emphasized that the PRC’s actions undermine regional peace and stability and underscored the United States’ ironclad commitments to the Philippines under our Mutual Defense Treaty.  The Secretaries also exchanged views on how to build on momentum from recent high-level bilateral engagements on issues of shared concern.