South China Sea: could Japan be drawn to help defend Philippines in 3-way summit with US?

Biden, Kishida and Marcos Jnr are set to meet next month in a landmark summit over the issue deemed by Manila to be the top ‘flashpoint’

China has no one to blame but itself if a ‘Nato-type alliance’ later forms to confront its aggression, an analyst says

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr at Malacanang Palace on November 3, 2023. File photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:00pm, 18 Mar 2024Updated: 9:23pm, 18 Mar 2024

Leaders of the Philippines, Japan and the United States are set to meet next month for a first-ever trilateral summit that could draw in Tokyo to help Manila defend its maritime rights in the South China Sea – an issue now regarded by the Southeast Asian country as “the real flashpoint” for a military conflict with Beijing.

Escalating tensions in the disputed waters have led the Philippines to pronounce the issue as “the real flashpoint” for a military conflict with Beijing, while Chinese President Xi Jinping last month ordered the military to be “prepared to respond” due to “stormy seas” ahead.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Manila this week in a visit aimed at thrashing out the details of the maritime cooperation summit in Washington, to be held between US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, according to Japan’s Asahi newspaper and Philippine media reports.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards a plane to travel to the Philippines from South Korea on March 18. Photo: AFP

The Asahi earlier reported Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa would also be going to Manila to meet her US and Philippine counterparts, but a source said on Monday this might not happen due to scheduling concerns. However, the April trilateral was still on the table.

Malacanang Palace has not announced any US trip for the Philippine president, but said he would be holding talks with Blinken on Tuesday.

Blinken’s office also confirmed he would meet Marcos Jnr and his counterpart, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, to discuss broadening cooperation on a range of issues, including regional peace, human rights, economic prosperity, semiconductors and the digital economy.

Earlier this month, Department of National Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said his department and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had pivoted from counter-insurgency to an external defence strategy to protect the country’s maritime interests and borders.