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President Barack Obama landed in the Philippines Monday to cement new defense ties on the last leg of an Asian tour conducted against a backdrop of territorial tensions between US allies and China.
MANILA, Philippines – US President Barack Obama arrived in Manila on Monday afternoon for his two-day state visit in the country.
Obama arrived on Air Force One at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 1:26 p.m., a couple of hours after the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) was signed at Camp Aguinaldo.
He was greeted by honor guards and received by Vice President Jejomar Binay, US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario, Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, and Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia.
Obama flew into Manila from Malaysia, hours after the allies signed a new defense agreement allowing more US troops and defence hardware to rotate through the Philippines, part of a US rebalancing of military power towards rising Asia.
Obama was also preoccupied with the crisis in Ukraine, which has shadowed him around Asia for the last six days, as the United States and Europe gear up to slap new sanctions on Russia, likely within hours.
Obama was due to meet Philippine President Benigno Aquino, participate in a joint press conference and be honored at a state dinner.
Anti-China sentiments run high in the Philippines, which is locked in a showdown with the Asian giant over disputed atolls in the South China Sea, part of a proliferation of maritime hotspots that has stoked Asian tensions.
During a tour that has taken him to Japan, South Korea and Malaysia, Obama has repeatedly warned that small nations should not be bullied by larger ones, a clear reference to China’s increasingly sharp geopolitical elbows.
“Disputes need to be resolved peacefully, without intimidation or coercion, and… all nations must abide by international rules and international norms,” Obama said in Malaysia Sunday.
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