US official meets Marcos in Philippines in diplomatic push

By DAVID RISING
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — A top State Department official has met with Philippine President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila, part of an ongoing diplomatic outreach in the Asia-Pacific region by Washington to try and blunt growing Chinese influence. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman tweeted after meeting Marcos on Thursday that the two discussed a range of issues, including the Philippines-U.S. alliance, deepening economic ties, advancing human rights and “preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific.” Marcos, the son of longtime dictator Ferdinand Marcos who was ousted in 1986, was elected in a landslide last month, alarming human rights activists and pro-democracy groups. Sherman is also making stops in South Korea, Laos and Vietnam while another U.S. State Department official is in the region.