A Japanese foreign policy and national security expert has supported the idea of a trilateral defense cooperation among the Philippines, Japan and the United States, and even pushed for a quad patrol in the West Philippine and South China Seas to mitigate China’s aggressive activities in support of its expansive maritime claims.
“It’s [security environment] evolving. It’s changing. We need support from people. So therefore, the process will be incremental. It should be politically correct without sending the wrong signal to the other side. It might take time. But the most important thing is we have that intention and we started doing it and it will continue so that the other side will not be misunderstood,” Professor Miyake Kunihiko said.
Kunihiko, research director of the Japan-based think tank the Canon Institute for Global Studies spoke on Friday at the forum “Strengthening Partnerships Toward a Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” which was partly sponsored by the Embassy of Japan and the Embassy of the United States in the Philippines.
He said a trilateral defense among the three countries is a “natural process” given the evolving and changing security environment in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific as a whole, which experts claimed was principally forced by Beijing’s aggressive and coercive activities.
The Japanese expert pushed for joint patrols among the Philippines, Australia, Japan and the US in the South China Sea in order to check on China’s activities and maintain the region’s status quo.
“It’s another natural process because the sea is wide and big and ships are limited, so it’s pretty natural that instead of one country doing the whole thing, more countries work together to cover as much area as possible. I think it’s in the pipeline, we have to do this in order to maintain the status quo and prevent them from being changed by force. I think it’s a matter of time,” he said.
The US and the Philippines have already agreed to resume joint patrols as disclosed by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III during his earlier visit to Manila, while Australia’s Defence chief Richard Marles, who also visited the Philippines more than a week ago, said that he also discussed the possibility of joint patrols with his Philippine counterpart, Carlito Galvez Jr.
Kunihiko also said that Tokyo is serious in forging a defense agreement like the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement, which President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has mentioned during his recent visit to Japan.
“It is not a means to coerce foreign countries. It is a means to send the right message to those who wish to change the status quo by force and not in compliance with international law. Then they will think twice. What we are doing is natural maritime policing operations. Unless you have a bad intention, you don’t have to worry,” he said.
Gregory Poling, senior fellow at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiatives, also underscored the need for Japan, the US and the Philippines to cooperate.
He noted Washington’s support to Tokyo and Manila, especially in the areas of defense, security and economy.
Stratbase president Dindo Manhit echoed the need for Manila to strengthen its alliance and partnerships with like-minded states.
“The current administration’s recent engagements with Japan and the United States include a potential trilateral defense mechanism and a Visiting Forces Agreement with Japan. Although no final agreements have been reached, the Stratbase ADR Institute sees these as opportunities to promote rules-based order through cooperation among like-minded states,” he said.
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