Japan is preparing military aid for the Philippines to help secure sea approaches and safeguard Taiwan’s western flank, officials say
Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force's destroyers Harusame and Amagiri sail side by side with Philippine warship BRP Ramon Alcaraz as they make a formation during their joint naval drill in the South China Sea. / Photo: Reuters Archive
As it steps back from decades of pacifism, Tokyo worries that the Philippines is a weak link in an island chain stretching from the Japanese archipelago to Indonesia through which ships must pass going to or from the Pacific Ocean. "It is very useful giving radars to the Philippines because it means we could share information about the Bashi Channel," said retired admiral Katsutoshi Kawano, referring to the waterway separating the Philippines and Taiwan. It is considered a choke point for vessels moving between the western Pacific and the contested South China Sea.
The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said it was not immediately able to comment on security aid from Japan or hosting Japanese troops.
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