Japan & Philippines sign defense pact

MANILA, Philippines, July 8, (AP): Japan and the Philippines signed a key defense pact Monday allowing the deployment of Japanese forces for joint drills in the Southeast Asian nation that came under brutal Japanese occupation in World War II but is now building an alliance with Tokyo as both face an increasingly assertive China.

The Reciprocal Access Agreement, which similarly allows Filipino forces to enter Japan for joint combat training, was signed by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in a Manila ceremony witnessed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It would take effect after ratification by the countries’ legislatures, Philippine and Japanese officials said.

Kamikawa called the signing of the defense agreement “a groundbreaking achievement” that should further boost defense cooperation between the countries.

Concern

The Japanese and Philippine officials “expressed serious concern over the dangerous and escalatory actions by China” in Second Thomas Shoal, the scene of a recent confrontation between Chinese and Philippine forces in the South China Sea.

They underscored in a joint statement the need “for the international community to speak out on the importance of maintaining and strengthening the free and open international order based on the rule of law” in the disputed waters.

There was no immediate comment by Chinese officials.

The defense pact with the Philippines, which includes live-fire drills, is the first to be forged by Japan in Asia. Japan signed similar accords with Australia in 2022 and with Britain in 2023.

Under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Japan has taken steps to boost its security and defensive firepower, including a counterstrike capability that breaks from the country’s postwar principle of focusing only on self-defense. It’s doubling defense spending in a fiveyear period to 2027 in a move to bolster its military power and make Japan the world’s third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.

Many of Japan’s Asian neighbors, including the Philippines, came under Japanese aggression until its defeat in World War II, and Tokyo’s efforts to strengthen its military role and spending could be a sensitive issue. Japan and the Philippines, however, have steadily deepened defense and security ties.

Kishida’s moves dovetail with Marcos’ effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea.

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TOKYO: Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike easily won a third four-year term as head of Japan’s influential capital in a closely watched vote Sunday, the city’s residents apparently happy with her governance that included providing childcare subsidies and holding the Olympics during the coronavirus pandemic.

The vote was also seen as a test for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s governing party, which supports Koike, the first woman to lead the Tokyo city government.

Tokyo, a city of 13.5 million people with outsized political and cultural power and a budget equaling some nations, is one of Japan’s most influential political posts. A record 55 candidates challenged Koike, and one of the top contenders was also a woman - a liberal-leaning former lawmaker who uses only her first name, Renho, and was backed by opposition parties.

Minutes after exit polls projecting her victory, Koike showed up at her campaign headquarters in Tokyo and celebrated by thanking the voters who chose her.

A win by Koike is a relief for Kishida’s conservative governing party, which she has long been affiliated with. Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, unofficially backed her campaign.

SEOUL, South Korea: The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called South Korea’s recent frontline live-fire drills “suicidal hysteria” as she threatened unspecified military steps Monday if further provoked.

The warning by Kim Yo Jong came after South Korea resumed firing exercises near its tense land and sea borders with North Korea in the past two weeks. The exercises were the first of their kind since South Korea suspended a 2018 agreement with the North aimed at easing front-line military tensions in June.

“The question is why the enemy kicked off such war drills near the border, suicidal hysteria, for which they will have to sustain terrible disaster,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media.