PH-US-Japan: Strengthening sovereignty

In November, the Armed Forces of the Philippines commenced its largest annual unilateral training exercise, Dagat, to bolster national defense capabilities. This year’s exercise is the first to occur under a new AFP Strategic Command and takes place amid a backdrop of growing geopolitical threats which threaten a free and open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) vision.

Since 2022, the Philippines has lodged 245 diplomatic protests against China over incursions in the West Philippine Sea, with 47 filed this year alone. Similar incursions have been seen elsewhere in the Pacific and are calculated measures by Beijing designed to assess regional unity, strategic alignment, and ultimately operational readiness. Should there be any indication of regional disunity, China will act.

At the same time as the ongoing Dagat exercise, China announced that it will station its newest aircraft carrier, CNS Fujian in disputed waters alongside another, the CNS Shandong.

Further north, North Korea continues to test medium and long-range warheads capable of reaching the Philippines’ mainland. These provocations are a real threat to the sovereignty of the Philippines, making military exercises like Dagat much more important.

While close ties with Washington are essential, the Philippine government rightly sees Japan as an essential partner to help contain regional threats which undermine an FOIP, a vision which both nations hold sacrosanct.

Japan’s new Defense Minister Shinjirō Koizumi emphasized during his inauguration ceremony that the region faces the most severe and complex security environment since the end of the World War II. Deepening ties with like-minded partners combined with enhanced defense spending (Japan is bringing forward spending targets by two years) is essential.

There is already much cooperation to build on. A reciprocal access agreement—a defense pact which will see Japanese troops train and enhance Philippine capacity building—took effect in September.

The original architect of the FOIP, Japan, has long warned about growing regional threats, including that of China and North Korea. Japan understands firsthand the threats facing the Philippines. Its Senkaku Islands—located less than 200 kilometers from Taiwan—have also been subject to Chinese incursions, including during several moments this year.

As outlined in a recent Philippines-Japan Asean sideline meeting and again during a defense minister meeting (United States, Philippines, Japan, and Australia), Tokyo maintains that strengthening the foundation for security cooperation, which cements regional peace and prosperity, is no longer a choice, but a necessity.

The September multilateral maritime cooperative activity which saw the navies of the Philippines, Japan, and the US conduct maritime training exercises in the West Philippine Sea underscores the trilateral’s growing strength and deterrence power.

At present, the Philippines remains the largest recipient of Japan’s official security assistance which has resulted in closer defense coordination, but further institutionalizing the relationship is fundamental.

The Donald Trump administration’s renewed focus on achieving an FOIP is welcomed. It aligns with Tokyo’s plans to boost defense spending as well as the Philippines’ continued security investment.

Most significantly, it provides a perfect blueprint for the trilateral to embed itself as a regional norm. Deeper cooperation will ensure the ultimate networked deterrence against those who seek to undermine regional peace and prosperity.

Early signs of the trilateral’s strength are clear, with China itself saying it comes “at the expense of other countries’ interests,” remarks which of course ignore China’s continued aggression.

Analysts are right to highlight important other regional groupings to which both the Philippines and Japan are parties, but there is an emerging consensus that the US-Philippines-Japan trilateral can move faster on key issues while ensuring complementarity.

This growing coordination is mutually beneficial, aligning with the Philippines’ $35-billion military modernization program and Japan’s defense spending boost. Shared intelligence and Japanese expertise will complement defense initiatives and boost the economy long-term.

The Philippines’ diversification of security partnerships is a strategy which aligns with close regional allies and is ultimately the only guarantor of its own security. President Marcos’ foreign policy ambition to strengthen ties with “like-minded partners” not only aligns, but captures the same core philosophy, as that of Tokyo.

The Philippines’ favorable location will long be the envy of rivals. It sits at the heart of one of the world’s largest maritime corridors and is the gateway to the entire Indo-Pacific region.

Both its territory and security, but also the security of the region, must be protected from nefarious actors at all costs. To do this, deepening security collaboration with like-minded allies like the US and Japan is not only the right strategy, but the only one too.

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Dr. Matthew Pajares-Yngson is a Filipino Dominican diplomat and a Caribbean Asean Council envoy.