The United States Department of State secretary John Kerry will visit the Philippines making a call on President Duterte and Foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay on July 26 and 27.
The visit comes on the heels of the Hague Tribunal’s decision on the South China Sea and the regions of the Spratly Islands. Kerry said he will discuss a wide range of cooperation with the new administration.
Kerry will be part of the Asean meeting in Vientiane, Laos on July 25 and 26 where he is expected to raise the issue of disputes in the South China Sea, as well as the nuclear issues within the Korean Peninsula.
A statement issued by the state department said: “At these Asean meetings the Secretary will discuss the region’s security architecture and shared transnational challenges including maritime security, illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, and the South China Sea.”
Kerry will attend the Asean Regional Forum in Laos where Asean members and key regional powers such as Australia, EU (European Union), China and Japan will gather to discuss security challenges in the region including rising tension in the South China Sea.
While in Laos, Kerry will also attend the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting, the Asean-US Ministerial Meeting and the Lower Mekong Initiative Ministerial Meeting.
Kerry is also scheduled to the Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Vienna, Austria on July 22. He is also traveling to Paris to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on ongoing talks to help create a two state solution.