By Prashanth Parameswaran
While Obama will be in Manila to attend APEC, what’s happening on the sidelines may steal the show.
U.S. president Barack Obama’s visit to the Philippines this week for a regional economic summit will also include a strong focus on maritime security amid South China Sea tensions, a senior U.S. official told reporters Friday.
Obama is set to arrive in the Philippines on November 17 from G-20 meetings in Turkey, where he will participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting in Manila. This is part of a broader regional trip – Obama’s ninth – for a round of Asian summitry that will also see him visit Malaysia for ASEAN-related meetings including the East Asia Summit (EAS).
But while in the Philippines, he will also have a range of bilateral interactions with one of Washington’s five treaty allies in the Asia-Pacific which is a claimant to the South China Sea disputes, Daniel Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, told reporters at a press briefing Friday.
Shortly after Obama’s arrival in the Philippines, Kritenbrink said, he will participate in an event that will highlight the U.S.-Philippine alliance and U.S. maritime security assistance to the region. Obama will visit a Philippine naval ship and meet with U.S. and Philippine sailors as well as senior defense officials.
Read the full story at The Diplomat