Handout from Philippines Air Force
The United States is a “stabilizing force” in the disputed South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region, the Philippine defense chief said Friday, adding that Manila was optimistic about a “new era” of ties with Washington under the Biden presidency.
Manila likely will keep pursuing an independent foreign policy, but is also expected to prolong a decades-old friendly relationship with the U.S. through dealings with the new administration in Washington, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.
“As for our challenges ahead, the longstanding rivalry between the United States and China will surely continue to test our adeptness in balancing our relations with both countries,” Lorenzana told a forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP).
Handout Philippine Air Force
The United States is a “stabilizing force” in the disputed South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region, the Philippine defense chief said Friday, adding that Manila was optimistic about a “new era” of ties with Washington under the Biden presidency.
Manila likely will keep pursuing an independent foreign policy, but is also expected to prolong a decades-old friendly relationship with the U.S. through dealings with the new administration in Washington, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.
“As for our challenges ahead, the longstanding rivalry between the United States and China will surely continue to test our adeptness in balancing our relations with both countries,” Lorenzana told a forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP).
Former US envoy Sung Kim appointed acting Assistant Secretary of State
Published January 24, 2021 10:45am
Former US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim visits Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez at the Philippine Embassy on Jan. 23, 2021. Photo from DFA Washington s former Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim was appointed acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, a senior position in the US State Department. Three days after his appointment on Jan. 20, Kim met with Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez on Jan. 23. The two officials had developed a good working relationship and had become close friends when Acting A/S Kim was US Ambassador to the Philippines, a press statement released by the Philippine embassy said Sunday.
Former US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim
(USAID Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“Sung Kim is now the senior official for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs,” the US State Department posted on its website on January 20, 2021.
On Saturday, January 23, 2021 (Sunday in Manila), Kim visited the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. to meet with Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez.
The South Korean-born American diplomat served as US envoy to Manila for four years, from 2016 to 2020.
Kim’s new assignment will put him in constant contact with the Philippines and the rest of the US allies in the Indo-Pacific region. The EAP bureau is in charge of promoting a free and open Indo Pacific region, strengthening international resolve towards the denuclearization of North Korea, and building a constructive, results-oriented relationship with China.
The Philippines could still expect criticisms from the United States regarding the human rights situation in the country under the newly installed Joe Biden administration, Philippine Ambassador to the Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said Thursday.