Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is on a two-day visit to Manila, also announced after holding talks with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that a coastal surveillance radar would be given to the Philippines through a grant.
Japan immediately expressed its strong support to the Philippines and the United States renewed its warning that it’s obligated to defend its treaty ally if Filipino forces come under an armed attack in the contested waters.
“We look forward to the address of a leader of a nation that is a robust trading partner, a strong security ally, a lending hand during calamities and an investor in Philippine progress,” Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said.
Kishida’s government unveiled plans in December to build up its security and defense — including counterstrike capability — in a major shift from the country’s self-defense-only principle adopted after the last world war.
Under the new strategy, Japan will utilize its huge development aid to support efforts by poorer nations like the Philippines to strengthen their security capabilities and improve safety at sea as China flexes its military muscle in the region.
Those objectives dovetail with Marcos Jr.'s thrust to strengthen his country’s external defense after a series of tense confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval ships in the disputed South China Sea.
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