By Dhel Nazario
The Philippines, along with the United States, will be holding the eighth Bilateral Strategic Dialogue (BSD) this July in Manila.
Philippine and American flags (Photo from US Embassy in the Philippines / Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
The BSD brings together senior leaders to discuss cooperation on defense, economics, rule of law, and regional diplomacy between the United States and the Philippines. It will be held on July 15 to 16.
US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Y. Kim will join US delegation co-chairs Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David R. Stilwell and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randall G. Schriver in robust discussions regarding the work across the broad spectrum of US-Philippines cooperation.
In addition to Ambassador Kim and Assistant Secretaries Stilwell and Schriver, the US delegation will include Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Joseph H. Felter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Hugo Yon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Jorgan K. Andrews, and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia Mark D. Clark.
This is Assistant Secretary Stilwell’s first trip to the region since becoming Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs last month.
Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary, he served in the Air Force for 35 years, beginning as an enlisted Korean linguist in 1980, and retiring in 2015 with the rank of Brigadier General as the Asia advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
Assistant Secretary Schriver was appointed in January 2018 and previously served as Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage from 2001 to 2003 and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2003 to 2005.
The previous BSD was held in Washington, D.C. from November 30 to December 1, 2017. The last BSD held in Manila took place in January 2015.