MANILA – The Philippines and Japan on July 8 signed a landmark defence deal that allows both nations to hold joint military drills in each other’s territories for the first time, a move seen as boosting their cooperation to resist a more aggressive Beijing in the East and South China seas.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr witnessed the signing of the reciprocal access agreement (RAA) at the presidential palace in Manila after meeting Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defence Minister Minoru Kihara.
“Your presence here increases our confidence and the importance that the Japanese government puts on these extremely important agreements that we have. And I’m very glad that we have come to this day,” Mr Marcos told the Japanese officials.
Mr Kihara said that the RAA represents the “cooperative relationship” between Japan and the Philippines, and “reinforces the effectiveness of our defence cooperation”.
The two Japanese officials then met their Philippine counterparts, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr, on the afternoon of July 8 to discuss their current bilateral security environment, as well as regional issues involving the East and South China seas, Taiwan and the Korean peninsula.
The RAA lays out guidelines on the deployment of soldiers and the conduct of joint military exercises in each of the two countries’ territories. This is the same level of military access to the Philippines that the US currently enjoys through its own visiting forces agreement (VFA) with Manila.
This also makes the Philippines the third country to forge an RAA with Tokyo, following Australia and Britain.
Before the RAA, bilateral military engagements between Manila and Tokyo were limited to humanitarian and disaster relief operations, as well as expert exchanges.
The defence pact, however, will be finalised only when the RAA is ratified by the Philippine Senate and Japan’s Diet.
Asked about the RAA at a press briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the Asia-Pacific region does not need military blocs and should not provoke confrontation between different camps that encourage a new Cold War.
“During World War II, Japan was responsible for invasion and colonial rule of South-east Asian countries, including the Philippines,” said Mr Lin. “Japan should seriously reflect on its history of aggression and be cautious in words and deeds in the field of military security”.
Negotiations for the RAA have been expedited in the past two years. Talks about the Philippines working on a defence deal with Japan similar to its VFA with Washington first started when Mr Marcos visited Japan in February 2023.
Nine months later, formal negotiations on the RAA started when Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Manila.
China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region has been pushing the US, Japan and the Philippines towards trilateral security cooperation.
Japan and the US once colonised the Philippines, but the two countries are now among Manila’s closest military allies as it counters a more assertive Beijing in the South China Sea.
The three nations’ naval forces conducted joint drills in the disputed waterway in April.
Japan has no claim over these waters, but it has a separate territorial dispute with Beijing over small, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that Tokyo calls Senkaku and Beijing calls Diaoyu.
Source link : https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/philippines-japan-sign-landmark-defence-deal-in-move-to-counter-china
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Publish date : 2024-07-07 22:52:20
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