South China Sea: could Japan be drawn to help defend Philippines in 3-way summit with US?

Malacanang Palace has not announced any US trip for the Philippine president, but said he would be holding talks with Blinken on Tuesday.

Blinken’s office also confirmed he would meet Marcos Jnr and his counterpart, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, to discuss broadening cooperation on a range of issues, including regional peace, human rights, economic prosperity, semiconductors and the digital economy.

Earlier this month, Department of National Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said his department and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had pivoted from counter-insurgency to an external defence strategy to protect the country’s maritime interests and borders.

“We are developing our capability to protect and secure our entire territory and exclusive economic zone (EEZ), in order to ensure that our people … shall freely reap and enjoy the bounties of the natural resources that are rightfully ours within our domain,” he said on March 8 in a statement, without elaborating on the details.

The trilateral summit could potentially lead Manila to further expand its defence cooperation and capabilities by drawing Japan into its closest circle of military allies, according to Renato Cruz De Castro, an expert on US foreign policy in Asia.

De Castro said in an interview on Saturday with This Week in Asia that the Philippines’ strategic defence shift involved a recognition that Manila could not do it alone and needed external allies. That was why it was relying on the US’ “ironclad” commitment to come to its aid if any of its forces, vessels or territory was attacked.

“And that is why the Philippines and Japan are negotiating a reciprocal access agreement (RAA)” that would enable members of the Japan’s defence forces to help