Japan and Philippine Signed Defense Cooperation Pact Addressing CCP Threat

On Apr 9th, Japan and Philippine held their first “two-plus-two” security dialogue in Tokyo and signed a defense cooperation treaty designed to facilitate joint exercise and reciprocal visits in response to the crisis created by CCP in the East and South China Sea.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the rules-based international order has been threatened and the ramifications of the war went far beyond Europe. CCP’s increasingly assertive sovereignty claims over Taiwan exacerbated the existing tensions in regional waters. As the neighbors of Communist China, Japan and Philippine advocated resolving the defense and diplomatic issues by consultations and dialogues. Their ministers vowed to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region and objected to unlawful maritime claims, militarization, coercive activities and the threat of use of force in the South China Sea. Japan and Philippine confirmed to sign a supply-sharing pact for their forces, also known as an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement.

It is known that Japan recently signed a similar pact with Australia, which eased restrictions on the transportation of weapons and supplies for joint training and disaster relief operations. Philippines was the second Southeast Asia nation to have a two-plus-two meeting with Japan, following Indonesia.