Japan, Philippines Seek Tighter Ties to Counter China

[LETHALFORCE]

Philippines, Japan to Talk Security - WSJ.com

Japan and the Philippines, both facing intensifying territorial disputes with China, are exploring ways to deepen military and security ties.

Philippine leader Benigno Aquino, right, met Monday in Ishinomaki with the city's mayor, Hiroshi Kameyama..

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, who will meet Tuesday in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, told reporters last week that he would raise security issues, seeking Mr. Noda's backing in disputes over competing claims between Beijing and neighbors in the South China Sea.

A senior official in Mr. Noda's office said in an interview Monday that the two leaders "may explore" more frequent joint coast-guard exercises, and more frequent consultations between naval officials.

"There is room to deepen our ties in terms of promoting such cooperation," said the official, adding that there is a "shared view between the Japanese and the Philippine governments regarding the importance of sharing the peaceful navigation and peaceful use of the sea."

Separately this week in Tokyo, the Japanese government is hosting a two-day meeting of Southeast Asian defense officials on "common security tasks," including sessions on "security issues and resource issues" and "efforts to strengthen maritime security in the region." Japan's defense minister will give the opening remarks Wednesday. Officials from 10 countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, are expected to attend.

Any new commitments from the Japanese side for the Philippines are expected to be mainly symbolic, in what has been a prolonged process to bolster security ties. Earlier this month, official bilateral "consultations" to enhance maritime cooperation took place in Tokyo—the first since the two sides agreed to talks in December 2006. There have also been a handful of military drills involving both Japan and the Philippines in recent years.

The South China Sea, which geologists believe lies atop significant oil and gas reserves, has long been the site of low-level skirmishes between rival claimants, but in recent months tensions have worsened. The governments of Vietnam and the Philippines have accused China of hindering oil exploration in their territorial waters—accusations that Beijing denies.

Beijing was enraged two years ago when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a visit to Vietnam, spoke in support of multiparty talks to resolve disputes over the South China Sea. While countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines are working toward creating a more unified stand—and have successfully enlisted the support of Washington in this—China prefers to negotiate individually with the other claimants.

Japan has been more reluctant than the U.S. to side with Southeast Asian nations in countering China, but people familiar with the situation say that Tokyo may be weighing whether to follow the U.S. by pressing for a series of multilateral talks to settle the patchwork of competing claims in the region.

Security analysts say the Philippines appears to be doing much of the legwork in organizing a joint strategy to counter China's rising influence. After visiting China in early September, President Aquino then flew to the U.S. "Mr. Aquino is setting the pace," said Carlyle Thayer, an expert on South China Sea at the Australian Defence Force Academy at the University of New South Wales.

The South China Sea contains some of the world's most heavily used shipping highways, and both the U.S. and Japanese economies depend on its remaining open for navigation. Around 90% of Japan's oil supply is shipped from the Middle East through the South China Sea. The sea is claimed in whole by China but key areas are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

Japan has a territorial headache of its own with China, over an archipelago in the East China Sea known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands and in China as Diaoyu. On Sunday, a Chinese research boat spotted in the contentious waters turned around after Japanese Coast Guard officials issued a warning.

Japan's Coast Guard said 14 Chinese boats, including fishing and research trawlers, have entered Japanese waters near the disputed island chain since a collision between Japanese patrol boats and a Chinese fishing trawler in the same area brought bilateral relations to a low a year ago. That is more than twice the rate of reported incidents as before the clash.

More recently, China bristled when Japan's annual defense white paper described Beijing's attitude toward its neighbors as "assertive" in August. China's Defense Ministry expressed "strong opposition" to the report.

 

[agentperry]

if nothing at all happens on battle ground still the tension of getting surrounded by enemy will make chinese generals BP and heart patients. china is spending hell lotta on weapon and will fast track future acquistion which will act like chain reaction initiator. more nations will get against china mostly due to unclear intentions of china and allies will get closer. china may find itself getting too much into quicksand called international game of influence.

 

[SpArK]

The victims should form a block and take on the bully.

 

[Dovah]

Japan, Vietnam, India, USA, Taiwan, Philippines....hmm the dragon sure has his talons full at the moment.

 

[amitkriit]

The rate at which China is making enemies suggests either of the two things:
a) China has already become a global power, China is challenging the existing world order carved around west and it's allies which is making them restless.
b) China has completely misjudged it's strength and influence, which might lead to it's downfall, but not without bloodshed.

 

[amitkriit]

The victims should form a block and take on the bully.

Yep really nice looking formation, small fishes pushed towards the end so that in wake of an attack, they get eaten up first.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

The rate at which China is making enemies suggests either of the two things:
a) China has already become a global power, China is challenging the existing world order carved around west and it's allies which is making them restless.
b) China has completely misjudged it's strength and influence, which might lead to it's downfall, but not without bloodshed.

Chinese have a mindset where military power equals economic power and Chinese growth can
come at the expense of others. This is starting to get challenged by almost all of it's neighbors.

 

[asianobserve]

The rate at which China is making enemies suggests either of the two things:
a) China has already become a global power, China is challenging the existing world order carved around west and it's allies which is making them restless.
b) China has completely misjudged it's strength and influence, which might lead to it's downfall, but not without bloodshed.

It's because the PRC has ceded its foreign policy to the PLA. China simply reared its ugly head too early.

It was cunning for the West and the US to praise China to high heavens too early. It resulted in bloated ego and inflated sense of dominance on the part of the Chinese. China as a result lunched its "superpower" geopolitical moves too early at a time that its neighbors can still reorient themselves away from it, or at least maintain a respectable distance from it.

The nouveau riche took the bait... It's now trapped.

 

[cir]

Those are mere stooges of the US.

China focuses only on the US. The rest is mere irritants and can be dealt with a few flying leopards from its bases on Hainan Island.

There is no way Vietnam will follow the baton of the US. It is merely using the US for its own agenda and vice versa.

Taiwan is a part of China, and there will be peace talk after Ma gets his second term. Taiwan is the least of China's concern.

Japan has its hands full with territorial disputes with Russia in the north, South Korea in the middle, and China in the South East. China is also Japan's largest market by a big margin. Same for Taiwan, which enjoys an annual trade surplus with mainland of nearly 80 billion US dollars.

The Phillipines is a complete joke. It can be bought off with a few billions of investments.

India is irrelevant. Its limited resources would be better spent minding its own backyard.

So China's historic mission is to surpass the US as the world's largest economy before this decade ends. And with almost unlimited human, material and financial resources, China can and will ramp up investments in education, science and technology, thereby availing herself of all the weapon systems, yes, systems, that are required to crush, with absolute superority, any enemy that might pose the slightest threat to her national interests and security. We are already witnessing the fruits of the investments made in the last 5-10 years, and as China gets richer, more resources will be allocated and devoted to enhance defence against outside aggression and secure national interests, wherever that might be.