China International Studies (English)
New Development and Motivation in Relations between Japan and the Philippines
Due to Japan’s active diplomatic offensive and positive response from the Philippines, Japan-philippines relations have been upgraded to a strengthened strategic partnership, with closer political contacts, deepening security ties, accelerated economic cooperation, and more active people-to-people exchanges. The bilateral relations will continue to grow, but will not undergo qualitative changes oriented to an alliance.
In recent years, with the active diplomacy conducted by Japan’s Shinzo Abe government and positive response from the Philippine side, Japan-philippines relations have witnessed significant improvement in the fields of politics, security, economy, and people-to-people exchanges. The strengthening of the bilateral relations epitomizes the efforts made by many Asia-pacific countries to expand their diplomatic maneuvering space in response to an evolving regional situation and the intensifying strategic competition between China and the United States, which is of universal relevance and merits further study.
New Development in Japan-philippines Relations
With a proactive diplomatic posture, the Abe government has been working hard to build Japan’s international image and redouble its diplomatic efforts. The Philippines provides important opportunities for Japan to enhance its influence in Southeast Asia. Under Japan’s active diplomatic offensive, Japan-philippines relations have been upgraded to a “strengthened strategic partnership.” President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines said that Japan and the Philippines are entering the “golden age of strategic partnership.”1
Closer political contacts
More active and stable political relations between Japan and the Philippines have become a precondition and guarantee for further development of bilateral relations. Promoted by Japan, the two countries have maintained closer contacts and exchanges at the highest level. During his term as Philippine President, Benigno S. Aquino III had visited Japan six times. In 2016, the Emperor of Japan visited the Philippines. During President Duterte’s first visit to Japan in October of the same year, Prime Minister Abe expressed that Japan would support the Philippine government’s projects in naval capacity building, the peace process in the Mindanao region, and infrastructure construction, and the two leaders agreed to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. After that, Abe visited the Philippines in January 2017, and Duterte visited Japan in October. In 2019, Duterte visited Japan twice in May and October.
The two leaders also held bilateral talks on multilateral platforms of the East Asia Summit, “ASEAN+3”, “ASEAN+1” and the APEC summit to demonstrate mutual trust and cooperation. Abe’s policy toward the Philippines has received a warm response from Duterte, who called Japan “a closer friend than a brother.”2 Through active mutual visits and meetings, Abe has succeeded in forming a personal and working relationship with Duterte. Frequent summit meetings not only symbolize a stable development of bilateral relations, but also provide political guarantee for progress achieved in various fields. In addition to summit diplomacy, diplomatic exchanges at other levels between the two governments are also getting warmer. The two sides have established exchange mechanisms such as the bilateral strategic dialogue at the deputy ministerial level, and the dialogue on maritime and oceanic affairs, all of which have enriched contents of the “strengthened strategic partnership.” 2 “Philippines Visit,” Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet, January 12, 2017, http://www.kantei.go.jp/ jp/about/actions/201701/12philippines.html.
Deepening security ties
Japan is making efforts to upgrade and expand its security diplomacy with the Philippines. Military security exchanges and cooperation have become the most rapidly growing and active field in Japan-philippines relations. The improvement of the Japan-philippines security cooperation started from the Yoshihiko Noda government, and the Abe government pushed forward the cooperation with more radical efforts. In January 2013, when then Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida visited the Philippines, security cooperation was an important part in his talks with then Philippine President and Foreign Minister. The talks started the rapid development of Japan-philippines security cooperation. Then Shinzo Abe, as Commander-in-chief of the Japanese Self-defense Forces, visited the Philippines and focused on promoting defense cooperation, setting the tone and direction for bilateral defense and security cooperation. In the same year, then Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera visited the Philippines twice. In 2015, then Philippine President and Defense Minister visited Japan respectively, pushing the bilateral military cooperation to the highest level.
Since Duterte became President, Japan-philippines security cooperation has been carried out continuously on the tone set by the Aquino III government. The two governments continue to implement the agreement on the transfer of defense equipment and technology to strengthen military and security relations. In August 2016, Japan delivered its first promised patrol boat to the Philippines. At the deputy defense chiefs’ meeting in February 2017, the two sides worked to promote defense exchanges and cooperation in the name of countering piracy and kidnapping; in March, Japan delivered two TC-90 trainer planes to the Philippines; in June, Japan’s quasi aircraft carrier Izumo made a “strategic stop” at the port of Subic Bay. President Duterte became the first head of a foreign government to board the ship, and he said that “Japan is a reliable friend who has always helped the Philippines, and the Philippines
is willing to keep on deepening the security relationship with Japan in the future”3; when aircraft carrier Kaga made a “strategic stop” at Subic Bay in September 2018, President Duterte once again boarded the ship. In August 2017, Japan and the Philippines signed an agreement to provide the Philippines with spare parts for UH-1H helicopters free of charge. In March 2019, the agreement was put into effect. When Philippine Defense Minister met with his Japanese counterpart in April, he called it “the latest evidence of the increasingly strong Japan-philippines relationship.”4
The security cooperation between Japan and the Philippines is improving and diversifying. Their security cooperation is based on institutional framework such as the deputy defense ministers’ meeting, the security dialogue on maritime and oceanic affairs, and the annual defense dialogues at the level of security staff. In addition, Japan and the Philippines also have exchanges on multilateral occasions such as the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus and the ASEAN Defense Senior Officials’ Meeting, the Tokyo Defense Forum, and the JAPAN-ASEAN Defense Ministerial Roundtable initiated by Shinzo Abe. The contents and forms of security cooperation between Japan and the Philippines are also gradually diversified. At present, Japan mainly provides patrol boats, trainer planes, transport planes and relevant spare parts for the Philippines. The two sides have also expanded cooperation in information exchange, joint exercises, and mutual visits between the JMSDF and the Philippine Navy. In addition, the Japanese and Philippine Coast Guards are also exploring cooperation possibilities, in which the Japanese Coast guard would help the Philippines train its coast guard forces and improve its operational capability with Japanese patrol boats and aircraft. The Philippines in turn agreed to open its harbor base to the Japanese Coast Guard for sea area adaptability training.
Accelerated economic cooperation
Japan uses the Official Development Aid (ODA) to provide economic and humanitarian assistance to the Philippines, and encourages Japanese enterprises to invest in the country, thus making economic and trade exchanges an area of great potential in bilateral relations. Japan’s ODA policy to the Philippines aims at further strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries. From 2010 to 2014, Japan ranked first in foreign ODA received by the Philippines. In 2015, when Japan revised its ODA outline, it renamed the “development assistance outline” as “development cooperation outline.” While highlighting equality and mutual benefit, Japan emphasized strategic operation, linked ODA projects with shaping regional security, and made ODA one of the important tools to practice “proactive pacifism.” Accordingly, Japan has stepped up its aid and expanded aid areas to the Philippines. Since 2014, ODA projects from Japan have generally witnessed an increase: 28 projects in 2014, 34 in 2015, 45 in 2016 when the Philippines changed its government, 27 in 2017, and 38 in 2018.5 In terms of content, ODA projects are not only limited to economic development, but also expanded to education and military training, military medical care, military port expansion, marine meteorological observation services, etc.
In terms of economic cooperation, Japanese enterprises have gradually expanded its scale of investment and construction in the Philippines. This is driven by China-japan tensions, rising labor costs in China, and the transfer and upgrade of industrial chains. It is also attracted by a stabilizing social order, improving investment environment, large population, and high national English level in the Philippines. In October 2016, Japan and the Philippines signed the Industrial Cooperation Action Plan (ICAP), under which the two sides will carry out extensive cooperation in the fields of manufacturing, automobiles, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, services, and human resources development. In the field of agriculture, Japan will provide long5 “Recent Japanese Odaprojects,” Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, November 26, 2019, http://www. ph.emb-japan.go.jp /itpr_ja/00_000077.html.
term loans for the Philippines’ agricultural development, and help Filipinos purchase Japanese agricultural machinery, in order to implement the plan for agricultural mechanization. During his visit to the Philippines in January 2017, Prime Minister Abe announced that he would provide the Philippines with one trillion yen of economic assistance in the next five years. In order to implement Abe’s commitment, Japan and the Philippines set up a joint committee for economic cooperation and infrastructure construction and held the first meeting in March 2017. By August 2019, the committee had held eight meetings to discuss projects involving infrastructure areas such as railways, irrigation, roads, flood control, energy, and industrial zone development. At the same time, Japan has also helped improve the distribution of electric power in the Bangsamoro region and provide humanitarian assistance to children in Mindanao, which greatly expanded the areas of bilateral economic and social cooperation and further strengthened relations between the two countries.
More active people-to-people exchanges
Japan has been actively promoting and deepening people-to-people exchanges with the Philippines, to strengthen Japan’s soft power, and consolidate the people-based foundation in its relations with Manila. Shinzo Abe has personally promoted the Japanese material culture in clothing, food, housing, and transport to Southeast Asia and other countries around the world, as well as the “Cool Japan” popular culture such as animation, science and technology, tourism, entertainment and related services. As for the policy concerned, in order to achieve the goal of “building a country image through tourism,” Japan has relaxed restrictions on visa and issued multiple entry visas for the Filipinos since July 2013. At the same time, the Japanese embassy, consulates and staff in the Philippines have served as basic platform for the overseas promotion of “Cool Japan,” and have been working together with other institutions (International Exchange Fund, Japan Trade Promotion Association, International Tourism Promotion Association) to advance cooperation and exchanges in the fields of culture, sports, education, tourism, art, and science. In 2016, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Japan-philippines friendly
relations, the Japanese embassy and consulates organized 23 related activities to enhance people-to-people exchanges. In addition, Japan has also supported and assisted the Filipinos to study and train in Japan, with government scholarship programs (including teacher training scholarship, research student scholarship, specialized training scholarship, and college of technology scholarship), young leaders programs, and Japanese language exchange and learning programs. In order to deepen the Philippine people’s understanding of Japan, the Japanese embassy also launched the “Hello Japan” program to introduce Japanese culture, traditions, festivals, food, language, and kimono through many formats such as Powerpoints and videos. Encouraged by Japanese publicity, the number of Philippine tourists to Japan has been increasing steadily. According to statistics of Japan National Tourism Organization, in 2016, the growth rate of Philippine tourists to Japan was 34 percent year-on-year; in 2017 and 2018, the growth continued, with a year-on-year rate of 23.8 and 20.8 percent respectively. In 2019, more than 52 thousand Philippine tourists visited Japan, a year-on year increase by 22.7 percent.6
Motivation of the Abe Government to Strengthen Relations with the Philippines
Under the readjustment of international and regional landscape, it is in line with the strategic consideration of the Abe government to maintain and reshape Japan’s dominant role in the region by upgrading its relations with the Philippines.
To improve Japan’s international image and enhance international status and political influence its
To Japan, the Philippines might help Japan improve its international image on historical issues during World War II. Strong bilateral relations will thwart the accountability and responsibility of Japan on historical issues, 6 For Japan’s visitor arrivals by country/area and purpose of visit, see the website of Japan National Tourism Organization, https://www.jnto.go.jp/jpn/statistics/tourists_2019df.pdf.
prevent countries in the region that suffered from Japan’s invasion from forming coalitions, and make Japan-philippines reconciliation an example for other victim ountries. In 2015, on the 60th anniversary of the end of the WWII, Asian countries expressed their dissatisfaction with Shinzo Abe who, in his talks, refrained from apologizing for Japan’s war responsibility. However, Aquino III claimed that Japan, in the post-war era, had done a great deal to fulfill the responsibility of “repairing historical trauma.” They “not only rebuilt their own country,” but also “selflessly helped us (the Philippines) to build our country.” At the same time, he expressed his hope that Shinzo Abe would take Japan-philippines relations as an example to show “common prosperity through cooperation.”7 To all the countries that suffered from the Japanese invasion, Aquino III’S statement might serve as bleach for Tokyo’s revisionist attitudes on history to spread unchecked.
In addition, the cordial Japan-philippines relationship helps Japan improve its political status and influence, and win more votes on the reform of the United Nations. After Shinzo Abe was in power once again, he pursues the policy of winning more maneuvering room by military force, and tries to gain recognition and tolerance of the international community for Japan’s pursuit of world political status. However, Japan’s efforts are restricted politically by the United Nations’ “enemy state clause.”8 To this end, Japan’s UN diplomacy is aimed at pushing for a revision to the UN Charter, deleting the “enemy state clause,” normalizing Japan’s position in the UN, and paving the way to realize its greater objective of becoming a permanent member of UN Security Council.” The revision of the UN Charter requires sufficient votes of support. The Philippines, as a member of ASEAN and an influential country with a large population in Southeast Asia, will help Japan with political support in its effort for international
status, and will lead other ASEAN countries to recognize and support Japan’s pursuit for political power.
To push the transformation of the Us-led regional alliance system and build a Japan-centered regional order
To upgrade and strengthen Japan-philippines relations is an important part in Japan’s “sub-alliance system.” The basic structure of the postwar order in the Asia-pacific region was a hub-and-spoke alliance system centered on the United States. Both the Philippines and Japan were US allies supporting American hegemony in the region, while Japan and the Philippines were not allies. The Obama administration, in implementing the Asia-pacific rebalancing strategy, transformed the hub-and-spoke alliance system into a networked system, encouraging US allies in the region to undertake more security obligations while developing and strengthening security relations among themselves. The rapid development of the Japan
9 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Diplomatic Blue Book 2017, September 26, 2017, https://www. mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2017/html/index.html.
10 Richard Javad Heydarian, “Japan: The Philippines’ New Best Friend?” The Diplomat, June 17, 2015, http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/japan-the-philippines-new-best-friend/.
11 Ryuichi Teshima, “How Should We Face the Trump Administration?” Nippon, November 10, 2016, www.nippon.com/ja/domains/d00268.