Members of the Philippine Coast Guard stand alert as a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

The United States is looking to bolster the capabilities of the Philippines to operate lawfully in its waters, a senior White House official said on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting of defense and foreign ministers of the two countries.

The senior U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, meanwhile, welcomed a recent agreement between the Philippines and China to ease tensions in their dispute in the South China Sea, but said the key would be implementation.

The Philippines, a U.S., ally, and China, the main U.S. rival in the Indo-Pacific, have sparred repeatedly at sea this past year, but Manila said this week the two sides had reached a "provisional arrangement" to ease tensions and manage differences.

"We've welcomed the diplomacy that they've conducted," Kritenbrink told the American Enterprise Institute think-tank in reference to Manila. "I think the focus will be on implementation. We're all watching very carefully."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will be in Asia this week and next to reassure allies and partners of U.S. support at a time when the November U.S. presidential election casts uncertainty over Washington's foreign policy.

They are expected in Manila for talks with their Philippines counterparts and with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Monday and Tuesday.

Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior director for East Asia at the White House National Security Council, told the think-tank event that Washington was looking to boost practical support for Manila.

"What we are looking to do across the board ... is to bolster our Philippine ally's capabilities and abilities to continue to operate lawfully in its waters and just stand up to the types of challenges that has faced in recent months."

Ely Ratner, the senior Pentagon official for the Indo-Pacific region, said the U.S. was "on track to engage in some unprecedented support for the modernization of the ... armed forces of the Philippines."

He said the two sides would discuss a security assistance road map and added that they were now in a position to expand discussions about the use of four new military locations to which the U.S. has gained access under their 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

He said "some historic announcements" were being prepared about U.S. support for the Philippines, but did not elaborate.

Three of the new EDCA sites face north towards democratically governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory, and the other is near the Spratly Islands, which China also claims, in dispute with several other countries, including the Philippines.

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Philippines says has 'arrangement' with Beijing on South China Sea, but no ship inspections

The Philippines has reached an agreement with Beijing on its resupply missions to soldiers aboard a grounded naval vessel in the South China Sea, but will not submit to inspections from China, a top security official said on Wednesday.

The Philippines and China, which have sparred repeatedly at sea this past year, have reached a "provisional arrangement" on resupply missions to the ship at the Second Thomas Shoal, as both sides agreed to ease tensions and manage differences.

Philippine national security adviser Eduardo Ano said, however, the arrangement does not include agreeing to Chinese vessels conducting "on-site" inspections.

China's embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China has long been irked by the Philippine missions to its small contingent of troops aboard the rusty ship Sierra Madre, which was intentionally run aground in 1999 to try to reinforce Manila's territorial claim to the remote shoal.

"There's no such kind of on-site inspection. What the two sides agreed are really a common understanding," Ano told a forum.

Details of the arrangement would be kept confidential unless both parties consent to make them public, Ano added.

"Both sides agreed the tension will be reduced ... to prevent skirmishes, anything that may lead to injury, harm to soldiers or to anyone," Ano said.

"We did not agree on anything that will undermine our position," he added.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including territory in the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. In 2016, a Hague-based tribunal said China's sweeping claims had no basis under international law, a decision Beijing has rejected.

With the backing of defence treaty ally the United States, the Philippines has been bolder in its asserting itself in the South China Sea, engaging in joint patrols and training exercises and deploying vessels to areas of its EEZ where China has long maintained a heavy coast guard presence.

Rival vessels have clashed in the past year and heated diplomatic rows have ensued with growing frequency, prompting regional concern that an incident could escalate and trigger conflict in the important trade route.

The Philippines and United States have accused China of unlawful aggression, while Beijing has been outraged over what it sees as deliberate provocations, territorial encroachments and U.S. interference.

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