Japan, Philippines Sign Defense Pact Amid Regional Tensions
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Japan and the Philippines on Jan. 15 signed a pact that allows their forces to exchange supplies and services to aid joint exercises and training, in an effort to increase defense cooperation.
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The Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement was signed in Manila by Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa “Tess” Lazaro.
According to the defense pact, the supplies and services that may be provided include food and water; transportation, including airlifts, for goods and people; training services; airport and seaport services; and ammunition.
Aside from facilitating joint combat drills, the pact also helps the two countries’ involvement in United Nations peacekeeping operations and to jointly respond to natural disasters in the region.
The agreement was signed amid increased aggression from the Chinese communist regime in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, affecting both countries.
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Lazaro said after the signing that she and her Japanese counterpart “both recognized the value of promoting the rule of law, including the freedom of navigation and overflight, especially in the South China Sea.”
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan said in its statement released after the meeting that the two ministers “shared serious concerns over the continuation and the intensification of the unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China sea and the South China sea and concurred to continue closely working together.”
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“Moreover, in the face of the current severe international situations, the two Ministers confirmed the strategic importance of deepening Japan-US-Philippines trilateral cooperation and the US engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, in addition to the bilateral efforts, and concurred on promoting concrete cooperation including in the area of maritime security,” he added.
Tensions With China
While the Japanese ministry did not name China specifically in its statement, the remarks about the East and South China seas appear to be a rebuke of Beijing’s increased aggression..
The Philippines has faced escalating tensions with China at sea in recent months. On Dec. 13, Manila said that Chinese coast guard vessels and maritime militia ships used water cannons and carried out “dangerous blocking maneuvers” against Philippine fishing boats near a disputed South China Sea shoal.
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In November, the Chinese regime dispatched its armed coast guard vessels to waters near Japan-administered islands in the East China Sea, asserting that the patrols were intended to uphold Beijing’s “rights and interests.”
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Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (center R) and Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro (center L) stand with their teams in Manila, the Philippines, on Jan. 15, 2026. Joeal Calupitan/AP Photo
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Tokyo has faced increasingly strained diplomatic relations with Beijing after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November, in response to a question in parliament, that an attack on the island nation of Taiwan would be an existential threat to her country.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) considers Taiwan its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island. Taipei rejects Beijing’s territorial claim.
Takaichi has not retracted her comments, and in the intervening months, Beijing has sought to pressure Tokyo, including calling for a travel boycott of Japan.
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Recently, the CCP announced a ban on the export of dual-use items—which are goods, software, or technologies with both civilian and military applications—to Japan, a decision Tokyo condemned.
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The Associated Press and Dorothy Li contributed to this report.
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