Secretary Blinken’s Meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa And Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Manalo READOUT OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Secretary Blinken’s Meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa And Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Manalo

READOUT

OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko, and Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo held a trilateral meeting today in New York during the UN General Assembly High-Level Week.

The three officials discussed ways to support economic resiliency and deepen trilateral cooperation on energy, infrastructure, and digital economy issues, and to enhance trilateral security cooperation, including on maritime domain awareness, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief efforts.  The three officials reaffirmed their commitment to promoting peace and stability in the South and East China Seas.  They committed to uphold our shared values of freedom, democracy, and respect for human rights, and reaffirmed our shared vision, as equal and sovereign partners, for a free and open Indo-Pacific region that upholds international law.  The three countries will continue to call out behavior that is inconsistent with international law, including the PRC’s recent actions near Second Thomas Shoal that interfered with the Philippines’ lawful exercise of high seas freedom of navigation.

This meeting builds on the September trilateral meeting between Vice President Kamala Harris, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.; the July trilateral meeting in Jakarta between the Secretary, former Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, and Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo; and the June meeting in Tokyo between U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Japanese National Security Advisor Akiba Takeo, and Philippine National Security Advisor Eduardo Año.  The three countries will continue to meet trilaterally to enhance this growing relationship and a free and open Indo-Pacific.