Japan and the Philippines will hold high-level defence talks next month, Manila said, as the two countries seek to boost ties in the face of an increasingly confrontational China.
Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa will discuss “bilateral and defence and security issues affecting the region” at the July 8 meeting in Manila, a Philippine foreign affairs department statement said yesterday.
The talks follow escalating confrontations at sea between Chinese and Philippine ships as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to nearly all of the South China Sea.
Japan, which occupied the Philippines during World War II, is negotiating a Reciprocal Access Agreement with Manila that would allow the countries to deploy troops on each other’s territory.
Ex-defence minister Itsunori Onodera, now a ruling-party member of the Japanese parliament, said yesterday he hoped negotiations on the defence pact would “make rapid progress” at next month’s meeting.
“We recognise the need to further deepen security and defence cooperation between our two countries,” Onodera told a press conference on the last day of a five-day visit to Manila.
Onodera said he had met with National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano, Defence Minister Gilberto Teodoro and Foreign Secretary Eduardo Manalo to reiterate Japan’s commitment to a strategic defence partnership with the Philippines.
“Japan is committed, ready to provide necessary assets to Philippines to protect Philippine security,” said Yoshiaki Wada, another member of the parliamentary delegation. — AFP
