Blinken Austin to meet Philippine officials in alliance push

WASHINGTON (Bloomberg): US State Secretary Antony Blinken and Defence chief Lloyd Austin will meet their Philippine counterparts next week, as Manila vowed to pursue efforts with Washington towards “collective defence” of the region around the disputed South China Sea. The two nations’ top diplomats and defence chiefs will meet for the first time since 2016 in Washington to tackle key areas of cooperation, the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement released Wednesday (April 5). “It will also be an important opportunity to substantively progress cooperation in key areas across the breadth of the relationship, including identifying concrete initiatives…