This content was first published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
Over a “increasingly serious” security situation in their particular territorial disputes with China, the defence rulers of Japan and the Philippines agreed to strengthen diplomatic military ties.
The two leaders met as part of a string of foreign friends and new lovers ‘ recent efforts to expand Philippine military cooperation. The best U.S. military officer in the Pacific, Adm. Samuel Paparo, was among those who received these things, as well as a port-of-call on the European aviation provider Charles de Gaulle and its provider group.
Two weeks after the Spanish Senate approved a new , security treaty with Tokyo, whose martial troops had occupied the Philippines during World War II, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani made an overnight visit to Manila.
In a joint press conference with Teodoro on Monday, Nakatani and the Philippines ‘ Gilberto Teodoro Jr. strongly agreed that the safety culture surrounding us is getting worse and that it is important for the two nations as corporate partners to further improve defense cooperation and collaboration to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
According to Nakatani, Manila and Tokyo if both “deepen diplomatic participation” with a sense of urgency.
After the Philippines ratified the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA ), Teodoro claimed that Nakatani’s two-day trip was intended to advance bilateral security operations. It facilitates larger-scale joint military exercises and enables military personnel to participate in organized security patrols.
However, the Chinese legislature must ratify the agreement before both countries “get the ground running at full speed,” Teodoro said.
The meeting included a discussion of regional safety issues involving the Indo-Pacific, the East China Sea and the South China Sea, as well as, most importantly, our shared initiatives moving ahead, not only regarding bilateral security enhancements but also in favor of fostering a sustainable, financially advantageous, and defense-sustained partnership, according to Teodoro.
According to Nakatani, Manila and Tokyo both agreed to increase functional participation, launch a proper discourse between “high-level administrative action officers,” and expand data sharing.
We also agreed to start discussions about military data protection mechanisms with defense authorities, he added.
Nakatani traveled to Basa Air Base, one of the main Philippine islands in the northeast of Luzon, to visit two important Spanish military installations.
One of the nine Philippine military installations is located in Basa under Manila’s Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement ( EDCA ), which was signed in 2004 with Washington as a long-time ally of the country.
The EDCA, which was first signed in 2014, allows the U.S. defense to construct and run infrastructure inside Asian bases for use by American and Filipino troops. Analysts said the alliance has allowed some freedom in assistance, including the having of the Typhon mid-range missile system, which is a sign that China is prohibited from setting up permanent bases in this country.
The EDCA was a follow-up to the 1999 Seeing Makes Agreement, which provides legal protection for large-scale joint military exercises between the two long-time friends in the Philippines.
Problems with local protection
The Japanese secretary ‘s trip to Manila followed last week’s extraordinary visit of France’s hapless nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships after the French army ships participated in battle drills with Filipino causes in the South China Sea.
Three ships and an oil cargo accompanied the Charles De Gaulle as it docked in Manila and Subic Bay. A , a defense and security cooperation arrangement, was signed by France and the Philippines in 2016 and has grown since.
While conversing with Spanish officials in Manila next week, Adm. Paparo, the mind of the U.S. Indo-Pacific command based in Hawaii, met with them.
He spoke with the Philippine military about regional security concerns and emphasized Washington’s” commitment” and” to enhance maritime domain knowledge and power building in order to combat illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive activities,” according to a statement released from his company on Sunday.
Quite appropriate moment
The Chinese security minister’s visit is significant because it occurs at a crucial time when the Philippines is working with like-minded lovers, according to Don McLain Gill, a professor and political scientist at De La Salle University in Manila.
” The timing in fact is very important, especially after a series of provocations by China within the West Philippine Sea,” he told BenarNews, calling the waters in the South China Sea” Miami’s exclusive economic zone.”
The currently strengthening Philippine-Japan security agreement can be expanded or deepened thanks to this, not just as a symbolic gesture.
Security scientist Chester Cabalza told BenarNews that Japan’s strategy is to sign its development as a “major energy broker” in the area.
According to Cabalza, the head of the think-tank in Manila,” Tokyo has felt the strength of Beijing’s impounding existence in its own coastlines,” reducing the tension by collaborating with nations that share similar corporate regional problems with China.
In the South China Sea, Japan does not have territorial claims that resemble those of the Philippines, which overlap with China’s broad ones. However, Tokyo and Beijing have a different dispute over a group of uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea ( also known as the Diaoyu Islands ).
According to Cabalza,” Japan must enter agreements with various regional thick powers.”
China may be ordered to adhere to sea rules-based buy in the South China Sea in this manner.
