manilaJapan and the Philippines vowed on Wednesday to strengthen security cooperation to counter China’s actions in key maritime trade routes, amid speculation that incoming US President Donald Trump could reduce security commitments in Asia.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met with his Filipino counterpart Enrique Manalo and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in Manila to reaffirm security commitments.
Iwaya and Manalo discussed Beijing’s efforts to establish control over the South China Sea, a strategic trade route, as well as Beijing’s claims to territorial and sovereign rights in the East China Sea that overlap with Japan.
“In response to developments in the South China Sea, we agreed to further strengthen the Japan-Philippines partnership,” Iwaya said at a joint news conference.
He vowed to continue Japanese assistance to enhance the “maritime security” and “maritime security capabilities” of the Philippines, which has been engaged in an increasingly tense confrontation with China over disputed South China Sea waters and reefs since last year.
China claims most of the strategic waterway, despite an international tribunal ruling that its claim has no legal basis.
Manila this week expressed concern over Chinese coast guard vessels patrolling close to its coast.
“I am seriously concerned that actions that escalate tensions in the South China Sea are being repeated,” Iwaya told reporters.
“This is a legitimate concern for the international community because it is directly linked to regional peace and stability,” he said.
Manalo said, “Our geopolitical security environment is becoming more and more complex and challenging” and expressed “concern over unilateral actions that aim to undermine the rule of law in the East and South China Seas”.
“So we agreed to work together in that context, not only to address issues in the sense of defense and security, but also to enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of our nations.”
Japan is a major financier of Philippine efforts to modernize its South China Sea patrol vessel as well as maritime surveillance systems.
Iwaya said he and Manalo also agreed to strengthen their trilateral partnership with the United States.
“He promised to maintain good communication with the next US administration to maintain and strengthen the momentum of our trilateral cooperation,” Iwaya said.
The United States has a decades-long security alliance with the Philippines that includes a mutual defense treaty and a 2014 agreement that allows the U.S. military to store equipment at nine Philippine bases.
In a telephone call with US Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, Marcos expressed “optimism in maintaining the strong and dynamic relationship” between the two allies under the incoming Trump administration.
Trump, who will take the oath of office on Monday, has pushed an “America First” agenda based on avoiding foreign conflicts and protectionist trade policies.
