WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to meet President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as concerns grow about China's harassment of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea. Marcos' White House visit on Monday comes after the two countries completed their largest joint war drills ever. The Philippines this year agreed to give the U.S. military access to four more bases as the Biden administration looks to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea. Meanwhile, China has angered the Philippines by repeatedly harassing its navy and coast guard patrols and chasing away fishermen in waters close to Philippine shores.
Aaron Favila/AP
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. waves beside a U.S. M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) during a Combined Joint Littoral Live Fire Exercise at the joint military exercise called "Balikatan," Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder in a Naval station in Zambales province, northern Philippines on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. The long-time treaty allies are holding their largest joint military exercises that are part of a show of American firepower that has alarmed China. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
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