This is in response to speculation that incoming US President Donald Trump may scale back US security commitments in Asia.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaja, his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manal and President Ferdinand Marcos promised to strengthen security cooperation. The aim is to limit China’s activities on key maritime trade routes in the region. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
Iwaja and Manolo discussed Beijing’s efforts to gain control over the South China Sea and its claims in the East China Sea, which overlap with Japan’s.
“In response to developments in the South China Sea, we have agreed to strengthen the Japan-Philippines partnership,” Iwaja said at a joint news conference. He pledged continued Japanese assistance in enhancing the Philippines’ “maritime security and maritime security capabilities.” Manila has come into confrontation with China several times in the past year in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
This week it raised concerns about Chinese coast guard patrols near the Philippines. Iwaja also expressed concern over China’s activities. It is a “legitimate concern of the international community because it is directly related to regional peace and stability,” he added.
The Philippine president said the “geopolitical security environment is increasingly complex and challenging” and expressed concern over unilateral measures “aimed at undermining the legal order in the East and South China Seas”.
Iwaja announced that he and Manolo also agreed to strengthen the trilateral partnership with the United States and promised to maintain “good communication with the incoming American administration.”
The US and the Philippines have a long-standing defense alliance, and a 2014 agreement allows the US military to operate from nine Philippine bases. However, some residents of the island nation are worried about the future of relations with the arrival of the new American administration.
