How Japan and the Philippines are building a maritime security front against China

Japan and the Philippines are deepening defence and maritime cooperation over shared concerns about China, with broad implications that analysts say reach beyond the South China Sea.

Following Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s state visit to Tokyo last week, the two sides agreed to launch formal talks on military intelligence sharing and maritime boundary delimitation, while elevating ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Beijing responded strongly, denouncing the boundary talks as “illegal and invalid” and dispatching coastguard vessels on Monday for law enforcement patrols east of Taiwan.

Also on Monday, Manila and Hanoi elevated their ties to an enhanced strategic partnership and renewed their memorandum of agreement on defence cooperation, with Marcos saying it would bolster their joint capabilities in maritime security.

At a joint news conference in Manila with Vietnamese leader To Lam, Marcos declared that “as fellow claimant states, we reaffirm that maintaining peace, stability and the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea remains non-negotiable”.

Observers said these developments were linking Beijing’s most sensitive maritime concerns – from the South and East China seas to the Taiwan Strait – into a more integrated security front.

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a research fellow at the Manila-based Asia Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, said closer Japan-Philippines military and logistical cooperation would complicate Beijing’s planning in a Taiwan crisis.

South China Morning Post