The leaders of Japan and the Philippines have pledged to strengthen further their security ties, including increased intelligence sharing, against a backdrop of persistent maritime tensions involving China.
Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru yesterday held talks with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the Malacañang Palace in Manila, on this first official visit to the country. In a joint press conference following their meeting, Ishiba said that the two countries oppose “attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea and the South China Sea by force or coercion” – an obvious reference to China. He added, “I hope that our two countries will continue to work closely together to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law.”
Ishiba arrived in the Philippines after a two-day state visit to Vietnam, part of a Japanese effort to offset the growing economic uncertainty prompted by the Trump administration’s punitive tariffs regime and deepen security partnerships with key Southeast Asian partners.
At the outset of the talks, Marcos said the two nations are “in the golden age” of relations.
“Our discussions today laid the groundwork for a future-facing relationship anchored in peace, shared prosperity, and a rules-based international order,” Marcos said, the Inquirer reported. “Japan has helped us achieve our aspiration for peace and friendship with all nations – with strength and with integrity.”
As with his visit to Vietnam, Ishiba discussed with his Philippine counterparts the impacts of the United States’ punitive tariff regime and the impact of the brewing trade war between Washington and Beijing. In a joint statement released after their meeting, Ishiba said that he and Marcos “discussed the tariff measures taken by the United States, as well as the impact felt on the multilateral free trade regime and the world economy because of the reciprocal retaliations seen with the United States and China.” He added he would conduct consultations in the Philippines, where major Japanese companies have a manufacturing base, to “work toward a better solution.”
However, the bulk of the discussions focused on security and defense cooperation. Ishiba announced that Japan and the Philippines had started talks on a potential information security agreement, which would pave the way to new and comprehensive forms of security cooperation. The two nations have agreed to start negotiations on a pact known as an Acquisition and Cross-servicing Agreement, which allows the provision of food, fuel and other necessities when Japanese forces visit the Philippines for joint training under the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) that was signed last year.
In addition, Ishiba and Marcos confirmed that their coast guards will conduct trilateral joint drills with the United States, and discussed the Philippines’ involvement in Japan’s Official Security Assistance program. The Philippines has been one of the first nations to engage with the OSA framework, which was established in April 2023.
These announcements seek to build on a number of considerable recent advances in Japan-Philippine security relations. These have resulted from shared concerns about the deteriorating security situation in the South China Sea, where the China Coast Guard has increased both the frequency and intensity of its incursions into Philippine waters since Marcos took office three years ago. Most recently, Beijing and Manila have clashed over the uninhabited Sandy Cay in the Spratly Islands, where Chinese personnel landed and unfurled their national flag in mid-April. Philippine forces then followed suit last weekend.
In addition to the signing of the RAA, Japanese vessels have taken part in a series of joint maritime patrols in the South China Sea. In April 2024, the two nations also participated in the first Japan-U.S.-Philippines Summit in Washington, at the close of which they and their American host “concurred to continue strengthening security and defense cooperation including through dialogues among defense authorities and joint exercises, as well as maritime safety cooperation.”