Philippines, Japan to hold fresh naval drills

The Philippines and Japan will hold their second joint naval drills this year, the Filipino military said on Tuesday, as the World War II foes deepen security ties while China aggressively develops islands in disputed waters.

The June 22-26 joint manoeuvres with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force would be the second this year, after a one-day exercise in the flashpoint South China Sea last month, Philippine navy spokesman Colonel Edgard Arevalo said. He would not say where the new exercises would be held or which ships would take part. On May 12, two Japanese destroyers and one of the Philippines’ newest warships held manoeuvres less than 300 kilometres (168 miles) from the Philippine-claimed Scarborough Shoal, which is now under Chinese control. 

“This navy-to-navy engagement envisions to share new tactics, techniques and procedures as well as best practices to further maritime operations,” Arevalo said. The drills will involve “maritime domain awareness”, search and rescue, and disaster response, he said.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced in Tokyo last week that the two governments would start negotiations for the transfer of defence technology and equipment.

The agreement may include the export of Japanese hardware to the Philippines, including anti-submarine reconnaissance aircraft and radar technology.

The two leaders also expressed “serious concern” over China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea, which they said violated a 2002 regional agreement.