Senior PH, Japan, US diplomats in Tokyo meet ahead of Washington summit in April

Senior diplomats from the Philippines, Japan and United States are holding talks in Tokyo to prepare for the first-ever summit of their leaders at the White House in Washington DC next month.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro, Japan Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano, and US Deputy State Secretary Kurt Campbell will discuss the agenda for the trilateral summit, which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said would usher “a new horizon of cooperation.”

US President Joe Biden will host Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on April 11 at the White House for three-way talks aimed at reaffirming their “ironclad alliance,” according to a White House statement this week.

This week’s meeting of the senior diplomats in Tokyo would focus on strengthening defense and economic ties of the three countries, Philippine officials privy to the discussions told GMA News Online.

Blinken, who was in Manila on March 18 to 19 for talks with Marcos and counterpart Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, reaffirmed the commitment of the US to its long-standing ally following a series of hostilities between Chinese and Philippine ships and vessels in the disputed South China Sea.

Blinken told Marcos that the relationship between the Philippines and the US is the “absolute priority” of Biden and that expanding this cooperation under a trilateral framework with Japan would bolster the “rich foundation between our countries on economic development, climate change, food security, and upholding international law.”

The commonalities of the three countries, Blinken said, “are front and center” of this cooperation. 

At the summit in Washington DC, the three leaders will also discuss ways “to promote inclusive economic growth and emerging technologies, advance clean energy supply chains and climate cooperation, and further peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the world,” a White House statement said.

The US, Japan and the Philippines have been the most vocal critics of China’s aggressive and hostile actions in the South China Sea.

While boosting trade and investments, Japan has intensified its security alliances with the Philippines, negotiating for a Reciprocal Access Agreement that will allow larger numbers of Japanese Self Defense forces to enter the Philippines for joint training with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and to help respond to natural calamities.

The Philippines has similar status of forces agreements with the US and Australia. American and Philippine forces are slated to hold major Balikatan exercises involving thousands of military personnel in the Philippines next month, including in provinces facing the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

China has repeatedly protested the annual exercises and warned the US not to intervene in the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, saying the US was militarizing the contested region and threatening regional stability.
 
At their press briefing in Manila, Blinken and Manalo said the new alliance is not targeted at any country, noting that the partnership is aimed to produce greater cooperation between the Philippines, Japan and the US. —KBK, GMA Integrated News