Today’s trilateral summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will seek to underscore the United States’ and Japan’s commitment to support the Philippines against China’s ongoing aggression in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

This was stressed by Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper, a top White House advisor for the Indo-Pacific Strategy, who is also the special assistant to the President and senior director for East Asia and Oceania, during Wednesday’s press briefing of the US Department of State’s National Security Council.

“[W]hat we’ll be showing on Thursday is that amid the tensions with the PRC (People’s Republic of China) in the WPS, the Philippines people, not just President Marcos, have the support of the United States and Japan,” Rapp-Hooper said when asked about how the trilateral meeting would affect the lives of Filipinos.

The trilateral leaders’ summit comes on the heels of the heightened tensions between the Philippines and China.

The Philippines, in the administration of President Marcos, has been observed to be more defiant against China’s expansive claims in the WPS.

The US and Japan are among the notable countries that are consistent in supporting the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the WPS amid China’s aggressive actions.

According to Rapp-Hopper, the trilateral summit in Washington among the three leaders is not focused on China, but rather on enhancing economic and security ties between the three countries.

Directed at none

“I’m not going to opine too much on China’s portrayal or sort of deign to project how Beijing will portray the summit. What I will say is what we’ve said throughout the Biden administration, which is that the US-Indo-Pacific Strategy and our groupings of alliances and partnerships are not about being against anyone or anything,” she said.