Is Washington orchestrating Manila’s new security pacts as a bulwark against Beijing?

Analysts say the US has played a key role in pairing the Philippines with nations like Japan to create a coalition that can counter China

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President Joe Biden, center, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pose before a trilateral meeting in the White House in Washington on April 11. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00am, 29 Jul 2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet their counterparts in the Philippines and Japan this week to discuss regional security issues, including security threats posed by Beijing in the Indo-Pacific.

The visit comes shortly after Manila and Tokyo signed a landmark defence pact, one of a number of recent security tie-ups between the Philippines and other countries that analysts believe Washington has helped to orchestrate in order to create a bulwark against Beijing’s growing influence on the region.

On Tuesday, Blinken and Austin will meet with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo and Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro in Manila for the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, where they will discuss strengthening defence ties and the increasingly heated territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.

Before heading to Manila, the two senior US officials travelled to Tokyo to meet with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defence Minister Kihara Minoru to discuss a number of regional security issues and “continue to build on the momentum” of the US-Japan-Philippines trilateral cooperation, according to a US State Department press release.

Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jnr, left, shakes hands with Japan Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff General Yoshihide Yoshida on July 8. Photo: AP

Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow in the Southeast Asia Programme at the Lowy Institute based in Sydney, Australia, told This Week in Asia that the recently signed Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between Manila and Tokyo was part of a broader regional trend in which the US brings like-minded partners together to work on common security issues.

On July 8, Teodoro and Kamikawa signed the RAA, enabling the two nations to jointly train troops and provide mutual aid during natural disasters. It will pave the way for larger military exercises between Filipino and Japanese troops.