Support to Manila 'iron-clad': Blinken amid SCS row
MANILA: US secretary of state Antony Blinken underscored Washington's "ironclad commitment" on Tuesday to help defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack against its forces after clashes between Chinese and Filipino coast guards in the disputed South China Sea recently turned more hostile. Blinken, the latest high-level official to visit the US treaty ally, met his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo Tuesday before separately meeting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in Manila.