The Philippines and Japan have signed a landmark military pact, the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), allowing for the deployment of forces on each other’s soil, marking an unprecedented high in defense ties between the two nations.
The agreement, the first of its kind for Japan in Asia, was signed on Monday during a “2-plus-2” meeting of both nations’ foreign and defense ministers. It will ease the entry of equipment and troops for combat training and disaster response, enhancing military cooperation between Manila and Tokyo.
“The RAA brings our defense partnership to an unprecedented height,” Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo said at a joint briefing.
The pact comes amidst rising tensions in the South China Sea, where the Philippines has experienced several maritime incidents with China. Last month, a Chinese coast guard vessel used a water cannon against a Philippine vessel resupplying troops stationed on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, injuring a Filipino sailor.
“The ministers expressed serious concern over the dangerous and escalatory actions by China at Second Thomas Shoal,” the joint statement from the meeting read. “China’s actions obstructed freedom of navigation and disrupted supply lines, leading to an increase in tension.”
The agreement will take effect after being ratified by the parliaments of both countries.
China claims much of the South China Sea, which is also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Japan, which announced its biggest military build-up since World War Two last year, does not have claims in the South China Sea but is engaged in a separate maritime dispute with China in the East China Sea.
Both the Philippines and Japan, two of the United States’ closest Asian allies, have expressed concerns over what they see as an increasingly assertive China in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
“Japan opposes unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force and coercion,” Japan’s foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, stated at the press briefing.
China, however, criticized the agreement, stating that the Asia-Pacific region does not need military blocs or provocations. “Japan should seriously reflect on its history of aggression and be cautious in words and deeds in the field of military security,” said Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.
The Philippines has Visiting Forces Agreements with the United States and Australia. Japan, which hosts the largest concentration of U.S. forces abroad, has similar RAA deals with Australia and Britain and is negotiating another with France.