(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I would like to share the details of the defense ministerial meeting between Japan and the Philippines. Today, from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for approximately 30 minutes, I held a Japan-Philippines defense ministerial meeting with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro. This was our third meeting this year, including the bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in June. The fact that this many meetings have been held consistently within a short period of time testifies to the significant growth of defense relations between Japan and the Philippines as strategic partners. At today’s meeting, we welcomed the close communication on multiple levels, including the ones under the Strategic Dialogue framework established at the defense ministerial meeting in February. In addition, taking into account the coming into effect of the Japan-Philippines Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) in the near future, we had a discussion on further strengthening operational collaboration and concurred on continuing to deepen Japan-Philippines defense cooperation. In addition, Secretary Teodoro once again expressed his support for Japan’s promotion of cooperation with like-minded countries, including the Philippines, under the spirit of One Cooperative Effort Among Nations: Perspective for the Indo-Pacific (OCEAN) that I presented at the Shangri-La Dialogue. At the outset of the meeting, I commented on Secretary Teodoro’s speech today, and we then discussed OCEAN. I stated that we could reach a shared view, and the Philippines side expressed its support. Through today’s meeting, we were able to confirm the deepening defense cooperation between Japan and the Philippines, which is our strategic partner and occupies key points on Japan’s sea lanes. This is highly meaningful for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, and I believe it sent a forward-looking message to the region. We affirmed our commitment to continue close communication under bilateral and multilateral frameworks and to further strengthen defense cooperation and exchanges between Japan and the Philippines. Notably, we concurred on hopefully holding a second meeting among the five countries of Japan, the Philippines, Australia, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the U.S., which was held once in the past. Later today, I will be delivering a special address at the Seoul Defense Dialogue. Amid a changing international situation, I will be underscoring the need for international cooperation, especially Japan-U.S.-ROK and Japan-ROK cooperation, under the spirit of OCEAN.