DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr and visiting Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani yesterday agreed to further enhance the defense relations of the two nations as they expressed belief he security environment in the region is becoming “increasingly severe.”
Teodoro and Nakatani, during a meeting in Makati City, discussed regional security issues, including territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea and East China Sea.
“Secretary Teodoro and I firmly concurred that the security environment surrounding us in becoming increasingly severe,” Nakatani told a media briefing after the meeting.
Nakatani said he and Teodoro also agreed it is necessary for the two nations, as strategic partners, “to further enhance defense cooperation and collaboration in order to maintain peace and stability in Indo-Pacific amid such a situation.”
Teodoro said they agreed to enhance not only the countries’ alliance in terms of scale of “cooperative activities” but also the “scope of these arrangements by also inviting like-minded partners to join the alliance to uphold international law and promote free and open Indo-Pacific, South China Sea and East China Sea.
“And we share also the common cause of resisting any unilateral attempt to reshape the global order without the consent of the participants of this global order and the attempt to reshape international law by force,” he said.
“And this endeavor we will resist,” he added, referring to China’s aggressive actions to assert its claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea.
Prior to the start of the meeting Teodoro said he was looking forward to discussions with Nakatani to enhance the partnerships of Philippines and Japan to maintain “a rules-based international order, a free and open Indo-Pacific, a resilient Japan and the Philippines against unilateral attempts by China and other countries to change the international order and the narrative.”
Nakatani said he and Teodoro agreed to deepen cooperation in three areas — operational cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and promotion of defense equipment and technology cooperation.
“Japan will continue to strengthen Japan-Philippines cooperation and make every effort to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Nakatani.
On radar systems that were transferred by Japan to the Philippines in the past years, Nakatani said, “I am very encouraged by my close observation that Japanese air surveillance radar systems are making an extremely large contribution to the air defense of the Philippines and the peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
Nakatani on Sunday visited an Air Force base in La Union where the radar systems are installed.
Teodoro said he is looking forward to Japan’s ratification of the reciprocal access agreement (RAA) this year. The RAA will pave the way for the conduct of military exercises between Filipino and Japanese troops.
The RAA was signed by both sides in July last year and was ratified by the Senate last December. The agreement is yet to be approved by Japan’s National Diet.
