Japan and the Philippines have signed a defence pact allowing tax-free sharing of supplies during joint training, aimed at strengthening deterrence against China and improving disaster-response preparedness.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi signed the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement with Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro at a ceremony in Manila on Tursday during which Japan also announced new security and economic development assistance to the Philippines.
The military logistical agreement, which has to be ratified by Japanese legislators before it takes effect, is the latest key defence pact to be forged between Japan and the Philippines to deepen their security alliance.
The defence pact would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training and comes as Tokyo faces increasing tensions with China, following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remarks that potential Chinese action against Taiwan could spark Japanese intervention.
Tokyo and Manila have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East China Sea and South China Sea that have continued to flare and threaten to draw in the United States, a treaty ally of the two Asian nations.
According to Japanese and Philippine officials, the new pact would assist both countries in responding to natural catastrophes, a shared concern, and taking part in UN peacekeeping missions, which will be an addition to facilitating cooperative fighting exercises.
In mid-2024, both countries signed the Reciprocal Access Agreement, which allows the deployment of forces of either country to the other’s territory for joint and larger combat exercises, including live-fire drills. The RAA took effect in September.
Officials from both nations are, however, still negotiating another agreement that aims to boost the security of highly confidential defence and military information that the countries could share.
In April of last year, when then-Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. jointly announced the beginning of negotiations for the Acquisition and Cross-servicing Agreement in Manila, Ishiba emphasised their nations’ opposition to “any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo through force or coercion in the East and South China seas.”
Ishiba’s statement then was an obvious reprimand of China, though he didn’t name the country. “I hope that our two countries will continue to work closely together to realise a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law”, Ishiba said.
Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships have had increasingly hostile confrontations with China in the South China Sea under Marcos, who took office in 2022. His predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, nurtured cosy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Beijing claims virtually the entire waterway, where it has bolstered its coast guard and naval presence and built artificial island bases to fortify its claims. Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the long-running territorial standoffs.
