Tokyo Offers Maritime Support to Philippines, Vietnam
Tokyo eyes new South China Sea role? Tokyo is getting ready to flex its military muscles in the South China Sea to counter China's growing maritime dominance.
As China’s presence in the area becomes harder to ignore, Japan has quietly begun forging security ties with Chinese geopolitical adversaries.
Japan's strategy includes military cooperation and engagement with the Philippines and Vietnam, two South-east Asian nations that have maritime dispute with China in the region.
According to a report by Reuters, Tokyo will be involved in joint training exercises with Vietnam and the naval military of the Philippines. The two countries have been China’s biggest challengers when it comes to vocalizing their own sovereignty claims in the region.
Manila and Hanoi are the two capitals most at odds with Beijing over the South China Sea. Japan itself is embroiled in a bitter row with China over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, further to the north.
Tokyo has reportedly offered 10 coast guard boats in the area ahead of what will be the first joint naval exercises between the Philippines and Japan in upcoming months. The two countries forged a security pact in Tokyo in January that also confirmed regular meetings between vice ministers regarding defense.
Tokyo military medical professionals have offered help in advising Vietnamese submariners on avoiding decompression sickness.
Japan's moves are seen as seen as "natural" by the Philippines. Its armed forces spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla said it would be "natural for Japan and the Philippines to join forces to help each other secure these sea lanes".
China and Japan both claim a group of islands in the East China Sea that the Chinese call 'Diaoyu' and the Japanese 'Senkaku'. The problem over the islands has, over the years, been the triggering factor for political rift between the two neighbours.
