Japan and China have repeatedly faced off over uninhabited Japanese-administered islands in the East China Sea that Tokyo calls the Senkaku and Beijing calls the Diaoyu.
The Philippines and China, meanwhile, have clashed frequently in the South China Sea around disputed shoals and atolls that fall inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Japan’s Joint Operations Command is operationalising the single-theatre concept, and the “Squad” grouping, which includes the defence ministers of Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the US, will establish a coordinating centre in December to enforce it, Teodoro said.
“So it is already an operating concept. It does not need any other agreement,” Teodoro said.
Japan and the Philippines last year signed a military agreement that could allow their soldiers on each other’s soil.
Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the Philippines has extended its arc of alliances beyond the US, its traditional ally, signing defence deals with Japan and New Zealand, and negotiating for similar agreements with Canada and France.
On Monday, the Philippines and Lithuania signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen defence cooperation in areas like cyber security, maritime security and munitions production.
“The interesting thing is that we’re facing absolutely similar threats and our hostile neighbours are using absolutely similar approach,” Lithuanian defence minister Dovile Sakaliene said in the joint briefing with Teodoro.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/east-south-china-sea-philippines-japan-us-maritime-defence-5211536
