At a meeting in Manila, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (L) and his counterpart Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. signed on to a new high-level deal framework which called for meetings between the Philippines and Japan to talk over defense and technology equipment needs amid “unilateral attempts by China and other countries to change the international order and the narrative,” Teodoro stressed recently ahead of the bilateral talks. Photo By Rolex Dela Pena/EPA-EFE
Feb. 24 (UPI) — Japan and the Philippines agreed to a “strategic dialogue” as a means to bolster defense tech and equipment cooperation, both nations announced Monday.
At a meeting in Makati City in the metro Manila area, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and his Filipino counterpart Gilberto Teodoro signed on to a new high-level deal framework that called for meetings between the Philippines and Japan to talk over defense and technology equipment needs amid “unilateral attempts by China and other countries to change the international order and the narrative,” Teodoro stressed recently ahead of the bilateral talks.
A visit by Japanese officials to the Philippines is expected to swiftly arrive.
“With the increasingly severe security environment, we firmly agreed on the need to elevate defense cooperation to a higher level,” Nakatani added.
The two agreed to begin talks on an information-sharing agreement between their military forces “in order to further elevate bilateral cooperation,” according to the Japanese defense chief.
Then-U.S. President Joe Biden met with Japanese leaders and Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the first-ever trilateral summit between the U.S., Japan and the Philippines to reaffirm the “ironclad” alliance between the three countries amid China’s assertion of power in the South China Sea.
This new framework was viewed as largely a response to growing Chinese aggression in the region particularly surrounding independent Taiwan.
In addition, the Philippines has been holding separate negotiations to “allow military forces from New Zealand, Canada, and France to train in the Philippines” under Visiting Forces Agreements, the daily Phil Star reported.
Last year in July, the Philippines and China reached an “understanding” on Manila’s resupply of its warship beached on a submerged reef in the disputed South China Sea in a reach to simmer tensions. The two countries — among other Asian nations — have for decades feuded over the sovereignty of the Second Thomas Shoal, which the Philippines calls the Ayungin Shoal and China calls the Ren’ai Jiao.
The two sides will also begin talks on an accord to “protect confidential security information to facilitate intelligence exchanges,” Japan’s Nakatani stated.
“We firmly concurred that the security environment surrounding us is becoming increasingly severe and that it is necessary for our two countries, as strategic partners, to further enhance defense cooperation and collaboration in order to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific under such a situation,” Nakatani said this week at a joint news conference.
