US-Japan-Philippines summit weaves a new pattern in Indo-Pacific defence latticework

The southern trilateral relationship is emerging amid growing pressure on Manila by China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

- Denny Roy

This week, as a Philippines supply boat undergoes repairs for damage inflicted by Chinese Coast Guard ships in the South China Sea, US President Joe Biden will be hosting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington for the first-ever US-Japan-Philippines trilateral summit.

Based on what officials have already revealed, the announcements expected during the summit would confirm two important trends: further maturation of the US-Japan alliance and deepening security cooperation within the US-Japan-Philippines trilateral partnership.

STRENGTHENING THE U.S.-JAPAN ALLIANCE

Mr Biden will meet Mr Kishida separately on April 10, the day before the trilateral summit. They will announce changes designed to improve coordination between US and Japanese forces during a military conflict in the region.

Adjustments that will enable the militaries of the two countries to work together more efficiently are not only long overdue, they have also become unavoidable.

After years of hand-wringing, Tokyo recently decided to deploy a long-range strike capability.

Japan can eventually build the required missiles for this system (relying initially on a purchase of 400 US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles as a stopgap), but will rely on US surveillance and intelligence-gathering infrastructure to make the system viable.

There is also an important command-and-control issue. The American military headquarters in Japan is US Forces Japan (USFJ), located on Yokota airbase near Tokyo and headed by a three-star general. USFJ is an administrative office lacking the staff to manage combat operations. Its main tasks are managing the real estate occupied by US bases in Japan and conducting public relations in Japan for the US military. It does not even have authority over the US Seventh Fleet, which is based in Yokosuka but takes its orders from Indo-Pacific Command in Honolulu.