The RAA marks an upgrade of defense cooperation between Japan and the Philippines, reflecting both countries’ new policies in response to the rapid changes in the regional security environment. This article will discuss the recently signed Japan - Philippines RAA and forecast its possible impacts on regional security.
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Japan - Philippines Reciprocal Access Agreement
Neither Japan nor the Philippines has released detailed content of the RAA, indicating that the agreement might involve certain sensitive matters, given the complicated developments in the East Sea and South China Sea. The announcement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan shows that the goal of the new RAA is to set favorable procedures for each country’s military forces to visit the other country and promote cooperative activities such as: (i) joint exercises; (ii) joint disaster relief; and (iii) improved interoperability between the forces of the two countries[1]. Previously, Japan signed other RAAs with the United Kingdom and Australia in 2022 and 2023, and the detailed content of both agreements has not been published. However, the released information shows that the objectives of these RAAs are basically alike.
Professor Thomas Wilkins (University of Sydney) opines that the RAA should be understood as a military cooperation agreement that puts into place a legal, logistical, and security framework for facilitating mutual access to one another’s bases and ports when conducting joint defense activities[2]. Professor Daisuke Akimoto (Tokyo University) reveals that critical legal provisions of the RAA are providing exemptions to visa and tax requirements for each visiting force, as well as granting permission for visiting force members to carry weapons and ammunition in line with their duties[3]. Journalist Ramon Roy Andyon (Nikkei Asia) says that the RAA between Japan and the Philippines also gives each country exclusive jurisdiction over the visiting forces of the other if they violate the law of the hosting countries[4]. This is the difference between the Japan – Philippines RAA and the Philippines - US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
In general, RAA is not a Mutual Defense Treaty because there are no binding provisions that the militaries of two countries must assist each other or fight together in the event of war, but it opens up ample opportunities for defense cooperation between the two countries which have already had many rapid developments in bilateral security relations recently. The Philippines and Japan have established strategic partnership relations[5], closely cooperating in many areas including economics, investment, especially in infrastructure development[6]. However, when it comes to military, the two countries only cooperate at a normal level, including ship visits, Japan’s supply of ships and military equipment to the Philippines to build defense and maritime security capacity. With the signing of RAA have bilateral defense cooperation been raised to a new height, trust advanced, and prospects for further defense cooperation realized.
Specifically, the RAA will facilitate Japan's participation in larger military exercises under the Balikatan exercises between the US and the Philippines in the region. According to the Spokesperson of the Balikatan exercises, in April 2024 the Philippines officially extended an invitation to Japan to join in the 2025 Balikatan [7]. Therefore, the signing of the RAA can be understood as a legal preparation for Japan's smoother participation in Balikatan next year.
Key dynamics
The RAA was mentioned by Japan in the first Japan – Philippines Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting (“2+2”) in April 2022, when the Philippines was under the Duterte administration. However, not until President Ferdinand Jr. Marcos took office has the discussion on this matter been clearly promoted. In November 2023, Philippine President Ferdinand Jr. Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to launch the RAA to lift the bilateral defense relations to a new level[8].
Japan can be seen as the key driving force behind this agreement. Concerned about the regional security situation, Japan has pursued a more proactive policy of strengthening its alliance with the US and promoting cooperation with other regional countries. The risk of increased conflict in the Taiwan Strait is one of Japan’s concerns, as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in June 2022 that Ukraine today could be in East Asia tomorrow, alluding to Taiwan[9]. Some scholars have also argued that the Taiwan Strait is within the scope of the US - Japan Mutual Defense Treaty because it has direct impacts on Japan's security[10].
Developments in the East China Sea are also complicated. According to a report by the Japan Coast Guard, in 2023, China increased its presence in the contiguous zone off the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands at the highest frequency since 2008, up to 352 out of 365 days[11]. In the first six months of 2024, Japan spotted Chinese ships present near the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands for a record 158 consecutive days. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said that the Japanese Government considers this development an extremely serious matter[12]. Against that background, Japan continues to adjust its security policy, including designing the Official Security Assistance (OSA) to help other countries build security and defense capacity [13] and negotiating the RAA with partners.
Faced with China's assertive activities in the South China Sea, the Philippines has adjusted Philippine policy by strengthening the alliance with the US and expanding security cooperation with other major partners to enhance Philippine capacity and gain international support for its South China Sea strategy. In May 2023, Manila and Washington established the Bilateral Defense Guidelines, including guidelines for implementing the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) under which the US commits to activate the MDT if there is an armed attack on either of their public vessels, aircraft, or armed forces – which includes their Coast Guards, in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea [14]. Recently, the Philippines has also been promoting diversification of defense relations with other partners, most of which are US allies. In 2023 and early 2024 alone, the Philippines signed a Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement (MLSA) with New Zealand, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on defense cooperation with the United Kingdom, a MOU on defense cooperation with Canada, a Letter of Intent to boost defense cooperation with France[15], and is in the process of negotiating RAAs with France and New Zealand[16]. The signing of the RAA is expected to leverage the Philippines’ security position, modernize its defense, and build up its capacity to respond to developments in the South China Sea.
The Japan – Philippines RAA may receive support and encouragement from the US, which is a treaty ally of both Japan and the Philippines. Just two months after the first-ever US – Japan – Philippines summit in Washington (April 2024) was the Japan - Philippines RAA signed.[17] In the context of other hotspots stretching its resource and attention, the US needs allies to share the burden. Signing the RAA will make it easier for the US to coordinate with both Japan and the Philippines to implement security policies in the South China Sea.
Impacts on regional security
Despite not being a Mutual Defense Treaty, for directly related parties, the RAA will help balance forces in the region. In the geopolitical competition in the region and the South China Sea, the US and Japan are in a weaker position compared to China due to their distance and limited presence. The new RAA facilitates the Japan Self-Defense Forces to boost its presence in a regional country, thus enhancing both bilateral (Japan – Philippines) and multilateral (with the US and other countries) military cooperation. The RAA can also open up other areas of cooperation such as developing defense systems, logistics, training, exercises, etc to enhance Philippine capacity and the interoperability among the three countries.
Japan is currently one of the key suppliers of security equipment to the Philippines. Japan has provided 10 44-meter and 02 97-meter response vessels since 2016 and will provide 05 more 97-meter ships to the Philippines in the future[18]. Japan also has a contract to supply four air defense radar systems to the Philippines, of which one was delivered in 2024. The RAA is expected to boost the existing interaction, mutual trust, and cooperation between the Japanese and Philippine militaries, opening up more opportunities to further the Philippine modernization of defense.
Overall, the Japan - Philippines RAA is just a small node in the US efforts to consolidate its network of multilateral military cooperation in the region and the South China Sea with allies and partners, and among its allies themselves, ultimately aiming at enhancing collective deterrence and strategic implementation. The Philippines previously signed the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the US in 1998[19] and the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) with Australia in 2017[20], while Japan, as mentioned above, signed the RAA with Australia and the UK in 2022 and 2023. The US, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines have conducted a number of joint exercises in the waters of the Philippines in the South China Sea[21].
The increased presence of Japan in the Philippines in particular and the South China Sea in general, in the context of more US weapons and equipment deployed in the region, will also influence the calculations and policies of other regional actors. China will likely see this as a continued effort by the US and its allies to encircle and contain it[22]. It is China’s calculations and the engagement of the US and allies in the South China Sea that will determine the possibility of China continuing to act aggressively towards the Philippine forces stationed at the Second Thomas Shoal and around the Scaroborough Shoal. The new RAA will certainly exacerbate current doubts and conflicts between key powers in the region. Accordingly, ASEAN’s centrality continues to confront many new challenges.
Conclusion
The Japan - Philippines RAA shows the two countries’ need for security cooperation in the context of volatile and complex geopolitics in the region and worldwide. The Philippines wants to expand security cooperation to build capacity and modernize its defense to balance powers in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, Japan needs to expand security cooperation to the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific for its security strategy implementation. Japan and the Philippines are both US allies, so strengthening military cooperation between the two countries will also facilitate the three-way security cooperation in the region. The RAA also shows that the rapidly growing trend of bilateral military cooperation among US allies because the US wants these countries to increase their autonomy to share security responsibilities with the US.
Nguyen Thai Giang*
Researcher, East Sea Institute
An original version of the article was published here.
(*) The article represents the author's personal perspective.
Translated & edited by Ngan Hoang
[1] https://www.mofa.go.jp/s_sa/sea2/ph/pageite_000001_00432.html
[2] https://www.spf.org/iina/en/articles/thomas_04.html
[3] https://thediplomat.com/2022/05/will-australia-and-japan-move-beyond-the-quasi-alliance/
[4] https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Philippines-Japan-sign-defense-pact-to-seal-South-China-Sea-ties
[5] Philippines has strategic patnership relations with only 3 countries (the US, Japan and Vietnam).
[6] https://globalnation.inquirer.net/175614/philippines-sees-japan-as-most-important-partner-country-ph-envoy
[7] https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/17/philippines-extends-invitation-to-japan-to-join-balikatan-2025-1647
[8] https://pco.gov.ph/news_releases/ph-japan-sign-raa-to-boost-defense-cooperation/
[9] https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220610-ukraine-today-could-be-east-asia-tomorrow-japan-pm-warns
[10] https://globaltaiwan.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GTB-9.14-PDF.pdf
[11] https://thediplomat.com/2024/01/china-sets-record-for-activity-near-senkaku-diaoyu-islands-in-2023/
[12] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/05/27/japan/senkakus-chinese-ships/
[13] https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/ipc/page4e_001366.html
[14] https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3383607/fact-sheet-us-philippines-bilateral-defense-guidelines/
[15] https://www.aseanwonk.com/p/japan-philippines-reciprocal-access-agreement
[16] https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/904812/france-vfa-talks-may-02252024/story/#goog_rewarded
[17] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/11/joint-vision-statement-from-the-leaders-of-japan-the-philippines-and-the-united-states/
[18] https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2024/07/09/why-the-philippine-japan-defense-pact-matters.html
[19] https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1143063
[20] https://philippines.embassy.gov.au/mnla/medrel120726.html
[21] In June 2023, Japan, the US and the Philippines held the first-ever trilateral Coast Guard exercise in the waters of Bataan. In April 2024, the US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines also held the first naval exercise in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. In June 2024, Japan, the Philippines, the US and Canada held the first-ever joint exercise in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. It is expected that there will be many more joint exercises between Japan, the Philippines, the US and other partners in the near future..
[22] https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202407/1315643.shtml; http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/OPINIONS_209196/Opinions_209197/16323593.html
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