An “increasingly severe” security environment has made deepening security ties with the Philippines a necessity, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday after a meeting with his counterpart in Manila.
Speaking as he concluded a two-day visit that included a tour of Philippine air bases, Japanese Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani said the two nations hoped to achieve greater operational collaboration.
“[Philippine] Secretary [of National Defense Gilberto] Teodoro Jr and I firmly concurred that the security environment surrounding us is becoming increasingly severe and it is ... necessary to further enhance defense cooperation,” Nakatani said.
Photo: AFP
He said that the nations had agreed to establish “strategic dialogue between high-level operational officers.”
Nakatani’s visit comes on the heels of a foreign ministers’ meeting last month where the Philippines and Japan vowed to strengthen security cooperation to counter China’s actions in key sea trade routes, including the disputed South China Sea.
Teodoro told yesterday’s joint news conference that the two nations shared the “common cause of resisting any unilateral attempt to reshape ... international law by force.”
China has deployed navy and coast guard vessels in a bid to bar the Philippines from strategically important reefs and islands in the South China Sea, leading to a string of confrontations.
The Philippines in December last year said that a China Coast Guard vessel used water cannon and “sideswiped” a government fisheries department vessel, and last week the Philippine Coast Guard said a Chinese navy helicopter came “within 10 feet” (3m) of a surveillance plane carrying journalists over the contested Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島).
Japan is a key financier of Philippine efforts to modernize its South China Sea patrol craft, as well as maritime surveillance systems including radar installations.
Beijing claims the strategic waterway in almost its entirety despite an international tribunal ruling that its claim lacked any legal basis.
Both Tokyo and Manila are allies of the US, which has been strengthening an arc of alliances to deter China’s claims in the Pacific Ocean.
The Philippine Senate late last year ratified a key pact with Japan that would allow them to deploy troops on each other’s soil. The agreement, which now awaits ratification in Tokyo, also allows for increased joint combat drills.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday released the first video documenting the submerged sea trials of Taiwan’s indigenous defense submarine prototype, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, showing underwater navigation and the launch of countermeasures. The footage shows the vessel’s first dive, steering and control system tests, and the raising and lowering of the periscope and antenna masts. It offered a rare look at the progress in the submarine’s sea acceptance tests. The Hai Kun carried out its first shallow-water diving trial late last month and has since completed four submerged tests, CSBC said. The newly released video compiles images recorded from Jan. 29 to
DETERRENCE EFFORTS: Washington and partners hope demonstrations of force would convince Beijing that military action against Taiwan would carry high costs The US is considering using HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as a forward base to strengthen its naval posture in a potential conflict with China, particularly over Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington plans to deploy up to four nuclear-powered submarines at Stirling starting in 2027, providing a base near potential hot spots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The move also aims to enhance military integration with Pacific allies under the Australia-UK-US trilateral security partnership, the report said. Currently, US submarines operate from Guam, but the island could
RESTRAINTS: Should China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, China would be excluded from major financial institutions, the bill says The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which states that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude Beijing from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China must be prepared
The partisan standoff over President William Lai’s (賴清德) proposed defense budget has raised questions about the nation’s ability to adequately fund its own defense, the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report released on Tuesday. The report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, said the government has increased its defense budget at an average annual rate of 5 percent from 2019 to 2023, with about 2.5 percent of its GDP spent on defense in 2024. Lai in November last year proposed a special budget of about US$40 billion over eight years, and said he intends to increase defense spending to
RSS