SEOUL, South Korea — Japan, in the latest shift away from its long-held post-World War II pacifist posture, is expanding its security ties with Southeast Asia.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, on a trip this week to Malaysia and the Philippines, reached an agreement with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to upgrade trilateral ties with Manila and Washington and to begin talks on reciprocal access for Japanese and Philippine troops.
“A further decision was made to start negotiations on a reciprocal access agreement and we agreed to further strengthen trilateral cooperation” between the Philippines, Japan and the U.S., Mr. Kishida told a press conference in Manila, the Reuters news agency reported.
The Marcos administration has already signed a military basing agreement with the Biden administration, enabling the rotation of U.S. troops into and out of the nation.
Similarly, a “reciprocal access agreement,” or RAA, would make the Philippines Japan’s third “quasi ally” along with Australia and the United Kingdom, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK. Tokyo has RAAs with Canberra and London, enabling quick deployment of troops and equipment.
With the heavy negotiating having been done in the run-up to the first RAA between Canberra and Tokyo, subsequent deals can borrow from the legal wording, a military source told The Washington Times.
The Philippines will also be the first recipient of Japan’s Official Security Assistance (OSA), which was mentioned in the Kishida government’s National Security Strategy paper in December 2022. OSA is a military counterpart to Tokyo’s well-funded, long-running civilian foreign development aid programs.
Spurred by both China’s expansionist policies in East Asia and by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Japan’s security outlook has shifted markedly. Mr. Kishida has proposed doubling the defense budget, focusing on naval, missile and anti-missile assets, by 2027 and greater overseas military aid.
“It is essential for us to drastically strengthen our own defense capabilities as well as enhance the security and deterrence capabilities of like-minded countries in order to prevent unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, ensure the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region…and create a security environment desirable for Japan,” the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The military aid pipeline is already open: On Thursday, the day before Mr. Kishida arrived in Manila, Japan announced the delivery of the first of four maritime surveillance radar units to the Philippines. Japan has also supplied small vessels to the Philippines’ coast guard.
Manila-Tokyo ties add yet another thread to a growing web of partnerships emerging around the region as a counter to China’s rise as a military and economic superpower.
These include the AUKUS submarine agreement between the U.S., Britain and Australia and the “Quad,” a diplomatic and security forum linking the U.S., Japan, Australia and India. The U.S. military also maintains bilateral defense accords with New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea and other states along China’s periphery.
U.S. officials have encouraged expanded defense ties between the Philippines and Japan in part to bolster a possible future defense of Taiwan. Both dominate vital naval choke points that lie to the southwest and northeast of the democratic island claimed by China.
Both Japan and the Philippines also face similar pressures from China over such issues as territorial water rights, islands, reefs and access to fish stocks.
Though it wields one of the world’s two largest navies, China has been reluctant to engage in military attacks in the region since its bloody incursion into northern Vietnam in 1979. But, in what analysts call a “salami slicing” strategy, Beijing is making incremental gains in regional disputes, including the Himalayas and the South China Sea. According to a 2021 article in the US Army University Press, Chinese officers seek to realize strategist Sun Tzu’s maxim of “winning without fighting.”
China has also used dredging vessels to create artificial islands in the South China Sea on which Beijing has built air-sea bases. Beijing also deploys its Coast Guards vessels and is accused of wielding a “maritime militia” that is virtually indistinguishable from commercial fishing fleets.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
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