Japan’s Defense, Foreign Ministers to Meet With Philippine Counterparts Amid Growing Chinese Aggression

Philippines' Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. (L) attends a news conference with Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi (R) in Tokyo, on April 9, 2022. (Rodrigo Reyes Marin AFP via Getty Images)

Japan and the Philippines will discuss security issues in Manila next week amid Beijing’s growing aggression in the South China Sea.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara will meet on July 8 with their Philippine counterparts, Enrique Manalo and Gilberto Teodoro.

During the foreign and defense ministers’ meeting, also known as the 2+2 meeting, the four officials are expected to discuss “bilateral and defense and security issues affecting the region, and exchange views on regional and international issues,” the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on June 28. The two countries also plan to discuss areas of mutual concern.

This is the second 2+2 meeting between Tokyo and Manila. The first was held in Tokyo in 2022.

The meeting comes as the Philippines and Japan negotiate a reciprocal access agreement (RAA) that would deepen defense cooperation between two key allies of the United States in Asia. The agreement would allow their military forces to visit each other’s territories.

Japanese lawmaker and former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, who visited Manila last week, said he hopes an RAA pact will “make rapid progress” during the high-level talks.

The Philippines has been ramping up its ties with neighbors and other countries to counter the Chinese communist regime’s growing aggression in the region.

The latest China–Philippine clash occurred on June 17 in disputed waters in the South China Sea. Manila said the Chinese coast guard engaged in a dangerous “intentional high-speed ramming” to prevent the Philippines from delivering food to its soldiers on a humanitarian mission to an outpost.

After the incident, the United States reaffirmed its “ironclad commitments” to the Philippines under the 1951 mutual defense treaty between the two countries, which requires the nations to support each other if either country is attacked. Washington condemned Beijing’s “dangerous and irresponsible actions to deny the Philippines from executing a lawful maritime operation in the South China Sea.”

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also called their Philippine counterparts to reaffirm U.S. commitments to the Philippines.

Japan expressed concern over the incident.

Like Manila, Tokyo also has a long-standing territorial dispute with Beijing.

Last month, Japan spoke out against Beijing after four armed Chinese coast guard ships entered Japan’s territorial waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Tokyo controls the disputed islands, which it calls the Senkaku Islands, but Beijing also claims the area and refers to them as the Diaoyu Islands. Tensions escalated in 2012 when the Japanese government bought some islands from a private Japanese owner.

In May, Japan said the Chinese coast guard had entered waters near the Japanese-controlled disputed islands in the East China Sea for a record 158 consecutive days, surpassing the previous record of 157 days, set in 2021.

In April, the leaders of Japan, the Philippines, and the United States met for a trilateral summit in Washington. They said they opposed Beijing’s aggressive actions and its unlawful claim of almost the entire South China Sea. The three leaders also called on China to follow the 2016 ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which declared that China’s maritime claims lack a legal basis under international law.

“We express our serious concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea. We are also concerned by the militarization of reclaimed features and unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea,” the three countries said in a joint statement after the summit.

The three leaders announced that their coast guards planned to conduct a trilateral exercise in the Indo-Pacific region in the coming year and establish a dialogue to enhance future cooperation.

Last month, Sandra Oudkirk, director of the American Institute in Taiwan and de facto U.S. ambassador in Taiwan, warned that the Chinese communist regime’s provocative actions in international waters in the region could lead to a broader conflict if miscalculated.

Reuters contributed to this report.