Phl, US, Japan to boost maritime defense capabilities

The Philippines, the United States and Japan have vowed to strengthen trilateral defense and security efforts to "maintain a free and open maritime order" in the face of reckless and provocative actions of Chinese vessels in Philippine waters and in other parts of the South China Sea.

- PIA LEE-BRAGO

National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and his US and Japan counterparts Jake Sullivan and Akiba Takeo made the commitment - according to a readout from the White House - in a three-way phone conversation on Wednesday, where they "reaffirm their commitment to freedom of navigation and international law in the South China Sea and East China Sea and the fundamental importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific." The trio expressed their concerns over China's recent "dangerous and unlawful" actions in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc, also called Panatag Shoal or Scarborough Shoal, in the West Philippine Sea and called on Beijing anew to abide by the legally binding ruling in 2016 of the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague invalidating China's massive claim and reaffirming the Philippines' maritime entitlements.

In their phone conversation, Sullivan reaffirmed Washington's ironclad alliance commitments to both Japan and the Philippines.