MANILA: Japan’s defence minister pledged to deepen military cooperation with the Philippines during a visit on Tuesday (May 5) to Manila, aiming for the “early transfer” of Abukuma-class destroyers to the archipelago nation.
The two countries’ shared grievances over Chinese territorial claims have seen them draw increasingly close in recent years, including the signing of a reciprocal access agreement allowing for the deployment of troops on each other’s territory.
Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s visit came as a contingent of 1,400 Japanese personnel was participating for the first time in annual US-Philippine military exercises, and just weeks after Tokyo eased decades-old arms export rules in a major policy shift.
Speaking alongside Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro, Koizumi – who signed a defence pact with Indonesia a day earlier – said that the two countries would create a working group focused on defence equipment.
“We agreed to move forward with discussions aimed at realising comprehensive equipment cooperation … with a view to the early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft as well as other defence equipment,” Koizumi said.
The Abukuma-class vessels, which are being retired by Japan, have been on the Philippines’ radar for some time, with the military saying it would send a contingent to examine them in 2025.
Speaking to reporters after the briefing, Teodoro said the destroyers would be a donation rather than a purchase, without specifying how many would be involved.
“The transfer is a giveaway,” he said, adding the Philippines would also now “be able to buy defence equipment” given the recent shift in Japanese policy.
Japanese media have reported that offering the destroyers free of charge or at a steeply discounted rate would require further changes to the country’s self-defence laws.
Koizumi reiterated Japan’s opposition to the use of “force or coercion in the East China Sea and the South China Sea”, noting what he called an “increasingly tense regional environment”.