PH, Japan boost security ties amid rise of China
- Defense exports from Tokyo, shared military information — these were among the items for discussion between Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in Manila.
- Part of the discussions included the security situation in the East and South China seas, where both the Philippines and Japan have territorial disputes with China.
- The two officials agreed to start discussions between senior officials and defense industry representatives to further enhance cooperation “in a mutually beneficial manner” amid China’s increasing military activities.
The Philippines and Japan have agreed to establish a high-level dialogue to expand defense exports from Tokyo and start talks on protecting shared military information amid their common concerns over China’s increasing maritime aggression in the region.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani met in Manila on Monday for their first bilateral defense meeting.
Nakatani, who took office in October, is in his second tenure as defense minister after last serving in 2015.
Part of the discussions included the security situation in the East and South China seas, where both the Philippines and Japan have territorial disputes with China.
China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, and its coast guard ships have acted aggressively against Philippine vessels near disputed shoals and atolls that fall inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
Japan and China have also repeatedly faced off around uninhabited Japanese-administered islands that Tokyo calls the Senkaku and Beijing calls the Diaoyu.
At the start of the talks, Teodoro said he looked forward to a resilient partnership with Japan to guard against “unilateral attempts by China and other countries to change the international order and the narrative.”
Nakatani, for his part, said the regional security environment has become “increasingly severe,” calling on both countries as strategic partners to further boost defense cooperation.
Strategic talks
The two officials agreed to start discussions between senior officials and defense industry representatives to further enhance cooperation “in a mutually beneficial manner,” according to Nakatani.
Security ties between Japan and the Philippines, both close US allies, have deepened in recent years amid China’s increasing military activities.
Tokyo’s only export to Manila was an air surveillance radar system built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. as part of a P5.5-billion deal signed in 2020.
The Philippines is in the third phase of its military modernization program, where it seeks to build up its military in the next decade with more equipment, including missiles, fighter jets and frigates.
Nakatani said they also agreed to start a “strategic dialogue” between high-level military officials on deeper information sharing and protecting military information “in order to elevate bilateral cooperation.”
Tokyo’s security cooperation with Manila is expected to get a boost in the coming years after the two countries signed a reciprocal access agreement (RAA) last July, allowing their troops and equipment on each other’s territory for combat training and disaster response. The RAA is awaiting ratification from the Japanese parliament.
Stronger alliances
Nakatani on Sunday toured Basa Air Base in Pampanga province, one of the nine military bases where the US military has access under an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, as well as Wallace Air Station in San Fernando City, La Union province, where some of the air surveillance radar systems sold by Tokyo were in place.
He visited the command and control centers of both sites, where future cooperation between the Philippine Air Force and Japan Air Self-Defense Force were being looked at.
Aside from strengthening bilateral defense ties, both officials also agreed to enhance their three-way partnership with the United States, and the quadrilateral grouping with the US and Australia, collectively known as the “Squad.”
“We are not only to enhance existing alliances in terms of the scale of mutually cooperative activities, but also the scope of these arrangements by inviting like-minded partners potentially to join these alliances. In any case, the upholding of international law and the promotion of a free and open Indo-Pacific, a free and open South China Sea and East China Sea, in accordance with generally accepted principles of international law, is a shared initiative,” Teodoro noted.
Also on Monday, two Japanese warships—JS Ariake, a Murasame-class destroyer, and JS Hamagiri, an Asagiri-class destroyer—arrived in the country for a goodwill visit, according to the Philippine Navy.
The two ships were on an overseas training cruise and were making stops in partner nations.
On Friday, the French Navy’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle also made its first visit to the Philippines, making a stop in Zambales, the province facing the West Philippine Sea.
The aircraft carrier docked in Subic Bay along with two multimission destroyers, an air defense destroyer, and the auxiliary oil replenishment ship Jacques Chevallier.
The French Navy forces conducted combined naval and air exercises alongside the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Air Force in the West Philippine Sea. —WITH REPORTS FROM REUTERS AND KYODO NEWS
