Philippines shifts defence strategy with Japan, eyes wider security focus

The recently concluded Balikatan joint drills have marked a shift in the Philippines’ defence strategy alongside Japan, with Tokyo offering the transfer of warships to its Southeast Asian ally, while a top Filipino official for the first time voiced “serious concern” over islands claimed by Beijing and Tokyo. Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr on Wednesday said Manila now considered the uninhabited Diaoyu Islands, which Japan calls the Senkaku Islands, a security flashpoint in the East China Sea. During the closing ceremonies of the operations on Friday, Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr also revealed that future war games would not be confined to waters within the South China Sea that Manila considered under its territory. Brawner said planning for next year’s drills would be done by the “Squad”, an informal military alliance comprising American and Filipino forces, joined by Australia and Japan. Canberra signed a Status of Forces Agreement with Manila in 2012, while Tokyo sealed a Reciprocal Access Agreement last year. Both pacts enable troops to train together. “This afternoon the four of us will be meeting as the Squad, so that we will discuss among ourselves how we will move forward in expanding the Balikatan exercise that will not just be focused or just located here in the Philippines, but we are going to expand the area of operations as well,” Brawner said on Friday. Teodoro and his visiting Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi had mentioned the Diaoyu Islands during a joint press conference on Tuesday following bilateral talks. Both officials issued a jointly signed press statement expressing “serious concern over the increasing scale and frequency of China’s coercive activities in the maritime and airspace surrounding Japan, including intrusions into Japan’s territorial waters and airspace around the Senkaku Islands”. They stressed the need for broader cooperation and common platforms for minister-level communication. In his opening statement, Koizumi said the multilateral defence cooperation would not be mutually exclusive but would involve the US and Australia, and tap the “Asean frameworks” that “share the fundamental principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific”. Koizumi was referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose 11 members were not involved in the Balikatan. Following Japan’s easing of its defence exports, both officials also signed a new framework for transferring defence equipment, most notably a fast-track of Japan’s Abukuma-class destroyer escorts and TC-90 aircraft. Earlier, a contingent from the Philippine Navy had inspected the warships with a view to purchasing one or several of them. However, Koizumi’s use of the word “transfer” seemed to indicate a donation. ‘Create gaps’ Retired Navy Rear Admiral Rommel Jude Ong told This Week in Asia the warship transfer “is more of a diplomatic action than a qualitative enhancement of the Philippine Navy’s capability, considering that these are relatively old but useful platforms”. Ong, now a Professor of Praxis with the Ateneo School of Government, explained why the Diaoyu Islands were now a serious concern for Philippine defence strategy. “Under the one-theatre concept, the North, East and South China Seas represent one theatre. You cannot divide one from the other. This will only create gaps.” To deepen defence ties, the Philippine Armed Forces allowed the Japan Self-Defence Forces the honours for their 1st Artillery Brigade to fire their Type-88 ground-based anti-ship missile system twice at a decommissioned Philippine war vessel on Wednesday. The second missile sank BRP Quezon, coincidentally named after former president Manuel Quezon who tried to stave off the Japanese invasion in 1942 but was eventually forced into exile when the island fortress Corregidor fell after three months of Japanese bombardment. The exercise marked the highlight and end of the nine-day war games in which more than 17,000 troops from six nations – the US, Japan, Australia, Canada, France and New Zealand – fought alongside Filipino soldiers. It was also the first time Japanese soldiers had set foot on Philippine soil since 1945. War analyst Alessio Patalano saw this year’s shoulder-to-shoulder drills as a form of “repulse of invasion set-up”. Patalano, a professor of war and strategy in East Asia at the Department of War Studies in King’s College London, told This Week in Asia that the drills appeared to have one main objective: “To defend particular areas with key capabilities [such as] the missile defence and anti-landing parts … They suggest someone trying to take islands and then [being repelled by] opposing [forces].” On Teodoro’s concern about the Diaoyu Islands, Patalano said: “The central issue here is twofold. It has to do with precedent – normalising and accepting muscular endeavours in areas under different national claims in one maritime basin can be replicated elsewhere. “And it has to do with the spirit of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea that decries the use of force and intimidation to advance claims. The principle should be applied across theatres.” Asked if the drills were meant to simulate a complex scenario in the event of a Taiwan conflict that Manila might be dragged into, Patalano cautioned against “confounding military readiness with political inevitability … Balikatan is about the down payment to your house insurance policy. It is not about calling for a fire to happen [and is part of] basic military planning”. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington opposes any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons. Tensions erupted last November when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in parliament that an attack by mainland China on Taiwan would be a “survival-threatening scenario” for Japan, potentially allowing for military intervention. Her comments triggered retaliation from Beijing, including disrupted trade, suspended high-level talks, travel restrictions and curbs on rare earth exports.

Philippines shifts defence strategy with Japan, eyes wider security focus

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Defence chief Gilberto Teodoro says the Diaoyu Islands are now considered a ‘serious concern’ and the Balikatan drills will also be expanded

Defence chief Gilberto Teodoro says the Diaoyu Islands are now considered a ‘serious concern’ and the Balikatan drills will also be expanded