Biden-Marcos meeting aims to strengthen Philippines-US ties amid China tensions.

President Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will agree on new guidelines aimed at strengthening military cooperation, including military coordination across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. The meeting comes as part of a four-day U.S. visit by Marcos, who seeks warm relations with both the United States and China. The U.S. government sees the Philippines as key to any effort to counter an invasion of Taiwan by China, which claims the island as its own territory. The United States is also actively planning a possible Biden stop in Papua New Guinea on May 22 as part of stepped-up engagement with the Pacific-island region.