Improving Philippines-China ties not a concern for US
MANILA, Philippines — Washington does not consider the improving relations between Manila and Beijing as a concern, United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim said.
The American envoy said he thinks that all countries in the region want to have a productive and constructive relationship with China.
"And the fact that the Philippines is interested in improving relations with China also is not surprising and it is not by itself a cause of concern," Kim told CNN Philippines' "The Source" Wednesday morning.
Kim added that he was not surprised that President Rodrigo Duterte has pursued policies based on the Philippines' own interests and independent foreign policy.
The envoy said he was more focused on maintaining the strong alliance between the Philippines and the US while the former seeks stronger ties with other nations.
"I am quite confident that our relaationship in all aspects including, of course, our very strong alliance remains very much intact," Kim said.
Asked if the proposed joint exploration between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea would affect US freedom of navigation operations in the area, Kim said it should not.
"Freedom of navigation and overflight are international rights for everybody and does not belong to any set of countries," Kim said, adding that the US continues its operations in the region to protect these rights.
A recent survey from Social Weather Stations found that majority of Filipinos believe the US defense commitment to the country is strong.
Sixty-one percent of the respondents said they believe the country's long-time ally would defend the country in case of invasion by another country. In 1951, the two countries signed a Mutual Defense Treaty declaring their "sense of unity and their common determination to defend themselves against external armed attack."
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