By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-13 05:06:12 | Updated at 2025-01-13 07:51:48
2 hours ago
For the first time since World War II, Japanese forces may soon set foot on Philippine soil. But before that historic moment, Tokyo’s foreign minister is in Manila this week to iron out the details of a defence pact that could redefine regional security.
Takeshi Iwaya’s two-day visit from Tuesday comes as both nations are looking to deepen ties under their “strengthened strategic partnership” that dates back to 2015. Topics on the table include defence, security and development cooperation, reflecting the region’s evolving geopolitical calculus.
At the heart of the visit will be the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), a landmark deal signed last July that allows the deployment of each countries’ forces on the other’s soil for joint military exercises. The Philippine Senate has already ratified the agreement, but its fate in Japan remains less certain.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who took office after replacing Fumio Kishida in October, has yet to push the deal through the Diet, Japan’s parliament. Observers have speculated that Ishiba’s government might be delaying ratification to avoid antagonising China, which has opposed the agreement.
But this concern is “probably unnecessary”, according to Shin Kawashima, an international-relations professor at the University of Tokyo, who said the current administration’s policy towards China was basically the same as Kishida’s.
