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Japan is preparing military aid for the Philippines to help secure sea approaches and safeguard Taiwan’s western flank, officials said, deepening security ties that could bring Japanese forces back to the Philippines for the first time since World War II.
As it steps back from decades of pacifism, Tokyo worries that the Philippines is a weak link in an island chain stretching from the Japanese archipelago to Indonesia through which ships must pass going to or from the Pacific Ocean.
Chief among the Japanese military’s concerns is a Chinese attack on neighboring Taiwan that could spark a wider conflict, with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warning that Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow.
To help address that, Tokyo in April said it would offer like-minded countries military aid, including radars, that officials said would help the Philippines plug defensive gaps.
“It is very useful giving radars to the Philippines because it means we could share information about the Bashi Channel,” said retired Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano, referring to the waterway separating the Philippines and Taiwan.
It is considered a choke point for vessels moving between the western Pacific and the contested South China Sea.
Three Japanese officials involved in national security strategy planning told Reuters that the United States was advising Japan on what to supply because it had a close military relationship with the Philippines.
One, however, said the aid effort was a Japanese initiative and not anything the United States had pressed for.
The officials declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.
“We are in the process of selecting equipment that can be used for maritime monitoring and security.
