Japanese Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba has announced that his country and the Philippines will begin talks on two proposed defense pacts to strengthen their security cooperation and would continue to combat aggression in contested Asian waters, a clear rebuke to China.
Mr. Ishiba and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also discussed in Manila the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and China’s countermeasures on the global economy and free trade system, according to a news conference held after their talks.
The Japanse PM said he would carry out consultations in the Philippines, where major Japanese companies have a presence, to “work toward a better solution.”
China didn’t immediately comment on Ishiba’s remarks but Beijing claims virtually the entire waterway, where it has bolstered its coast guard and naval presence and built artificial island bases to fortify its claims.
Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the long-simmering territorial standoffs.
The Philippines, Marcos said, would continue its strengthened strategic partnership with Japan, which “shares our ideals and aspirations of upholding democratic institutions and the rules-based international order.”
In the East China Sea, China has routinely sent coast guard vessels and planes into waters and airspace that surround islands, which are claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing, to harass Japanese vessels.
That has prompted Japan at times to scramble jets in response.
The defense pact that Japan and the Philippines would start to negotiate is called the Acquisition and Cross-servicing Agreement, which would allow the provision of food, fuel and other necessities when Japanese forces visit the Philippines for joint training under a major defense accord that was signed last year and is expected to be ratified by the Japanese legislature.
The other proposed agreement involves the security of highly confidential defense and military information the countries could share.
The United States and the Philippines signed such an agreement in November to secure the exchange of highly confidential military intelligence and technology in key weapons that the US would provide to Manila.
During their talks, Ishiba said that he and Marcos reaffirmed the importance of their trilateral alliance with the US.
The US has repeatedly warned China over its escalating acts of aggression in the disputed waters against Japan and the Philippines, which are among Washington’s staunchest treaty allies in Asia.
However, Trump’s tariff impositions on Japan and the Philippines, among other countries worldwide, have sparked an awkward dilemma among the close security allies.
“The US tariff measures have dealt a major blow to the economies of both Vietnam and the Philippines.
In addition, there have been major impacts on Japanese companies expanding into these countries,” Ishiba said over the weekend in Tokyo before travelling to Vietnam and the Philippines.
