Xi and Biden jostle for strong ties with Manila

MANILA • The United States and China have congratulated Mr Ferdinand Marcos Jr on his win in the Philippine presidential election, as the superpowers jostle to have the strongest ties with the South-east Asian nation.

Mr Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator, secured more than half of the votes in Monday's polls to win the presidency by a wide margin and cap a remarkable comeback for his family. He and running mate Sara Duterte, who also won the vice-presidential race in a landslide, have embraced the key policies of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, including his position on China.

Mr Duterte sought to pivot away from the US towards China after taking power in 2016 - and appeared reluctant to confront Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Even before Mr Marcos Jr declared victory, the US and Chinese presidents were quick off the mark to start building a personal relationship seen as strategically vital by both rivals.

In a phone call on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Mr Marcos Jr their two countries had been "partners through thick and thin", Chinese state television reported yesterday.

"I attach great importance to the development of China-Philippines relations and am willing to establish a good working relationship with President-elect Marcos, adhere to good neighbourliness and friendship," Mr Xi said.

Meanwhile, the US said it will seek close security ties with the Philippines under Mr Marcos Jr, but made clear it would raise human rights. In a phone call, US President Joe Biden congratulated Mr Marcos Jr on his win.

"President Biden underscored that he looks forward to working with the President-elect to continue strengthening the US-Philippine alliance, while expanding bilateral cooperation on a wide range of issues," the White House said in a statement, listing the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, economic growth and "respect for human rights".

Mr Marcos Jr yesterday said he had assured Mr Biden that the Philippines "always held the United States in high regard as a friend, an ally, and a partner". He invited Mr Biden to his June 30 inauguration, but did not say if the US leader had accepted.

The US has a complex relationship with the Philippines - and the Marcos family. Mr Marcos Jr's father, after ruling the former US colony for two decades with the support of Washington - which saw him as a Cold War ally - went into exile in Hawaii amid mass protests and with the nudging of the US in 1986.

Washington is keen to preserve its security ties with Manila that include a mutual defence treaty and permission for the US military to store defence equipment on several Philippine bases.

But Mr Marcos Jr's spokesman warned that a US contempt of court judgment against the younger Marcos could affect the relationship. The decades-old issue relates to the family's failure to pay compensation to thousands of victims of human rights abuses during Mr Marcos senior's regime.

Under Mr Duterte, Manila's previously frosty relations with Beijing warmed as he set aside an international ruling on the South China Sea in exchange for promises of trade and investment.

China claims almost the entirety of the waterway and has ignored the 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that its historical claim is without basis. It has reinforced its stance by building artificial islands over some contested reefs and installing weapons on them.

Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have competing claims in the waters.

Ahead of the vote, Mr Marcos Jr said he would seek engagement with Beijing rather than confrontation over their rival claims in the South China Sea. "President Duterte's engagement approach is correct because in my opinion that is the only way to resolving our conflicting claims with China," he said.

But Mr Duterte has faced domestic pressure to take a harder line on Beijing's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and in the past year insisted his country's sovereignty over the waters is not negotiable. In July, he walked back on a decision to axe a key military deal - the Visiting Forces Agreement - with the US during a visit by Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE