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| Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (right) and his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani. (Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer) |
During the meeting on the sidelines of the Shangrila Dialogue, an annual Asian security forum in Singapore, the two ministers also agreed to promote cooperation on arms exports and maintain close communication between the two countries' defense agencies.
Mr. Teodoro, welcoming the progress in bilateral cooperation, said at the beginning of the talks that Japan is the cornerstone for maintaining order in the region.
The talks come after the two sides agreed in February in Manila to launch a strategic dialogue to enhance unit-level cooperation and establish a high-level framework to further promote cooperation in defense technology and equipment.
Security ties between Japan and the Philippines, both key US allies, have strengthened in recent years amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing are embroiled in a territorial dispute.
Chinese ships have clashed with Philippine vessels near disputed shoals in the South China Sea and repeatedly entered waters around the uninhabited Senkaku Islands controlled by Japan in the East China Sea, which China also claims and calls Diaoyu .
Tokyo has supplied the Philippines with an airborne surveillance radar system in 2023, the first complete defense product exported by Japan since easing a ban on arms sales that had been in place since 2014.
Japan has also decided to provide coastal radar systems to the Southeast Asian nation under a new security assistance program to be launched in 2023 to support the militaries of like-minded countries.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/cang-thang-gia-tang-o-bien-dong-nhat-ban-bat-tay-philippines-day-manh-hop-tac-quoc-phong-316272.html
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