Aiming to restrain China's unilateral advances in the South China Sea, Japan has decided to provide two large patrol vessels to the Philippines to help strengthen that country's maritime security capabilities.

Japan will provide 90-meter (295-foot) patrol vessels, the largest that Japan has ever provided to another nation. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled a plan to provide the patrol vessels to the Philippines during his first talks with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in Laos on Tuesday afternoon.

According to a Japanese government official, Japan will extend yen loans to the Philippines as part of its official development assistance. The funds raised will be used to build two patrol vessels in Japan that will be delivered to the Philippine Coast Guard.

Japan has already decided to provide 10 40-meter patrol boats to the Philippines and has started to deliver some of them. It will be the first time for Japan to provide large patrol vessels to the country.

During talks with Abe in November last year, then Philippine President Benigno Aquino asked Japan to provide large patrol vessels. Abe told Aquino that Japan would discuss the matter.

Large patrol vessels have thick armor to protect against shells and therefore will likely be treated as weapons.

The Japanese government plans to maintain cooperation with Duterte over the South China Sea issue, as it did with the administration of former President Aquino.

However, Duterte's diplomatic strategies have yet to be formulated. He said he will respect the ruling handed down by an arbitration court that rejected China's claims over the South China Sea, but at the same time Duterte indicated his willingness to have bilateral negotiations with China.

A meeting between President Barack Obama and Duterte was canceled on Tuesday after Duterte lashed out at Obama. Abe intended to build a relationship of trust with the Philippines during talks with Duterte on Tuesday and express again the need for cooperation between Japan, the United States and the Philippines.

During the Abe-Duterte talks, Japan formally decided to lend the Maritime Self-Defense Force's TC-90 training aircraft to the Philippines. A plan to lend the training aircraft was agreed on between the two countries in May.

It will be the first lending of defense equipment based on the agreement on defense equipment and technology transfer that Japan and the Philippines signed in February.

In 1995, China occupied Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, which had been effectively controlled by the Philippines. In 2012, the Philippines saw the Scarborough Shoal taken under China's effective control.

China is reportedly stepping up preparations to reclaim areas around the Scarborough Shoal. It is therefore an urgent task for the Philippines to strengthen its maritime security capabilities.

Many Southeast Asia countries that have disputes over sovereignty in the South China Sea are vulnerable in terms of maritime security capability. The government plans to help enhance their capabilities.

Japan has already donated six used ships as patrol vessels to Vietnam. </s> Japan to boost S.China Sea role with training patrols with U.S. - minister

WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Japan will step up its activity in the contested South China Sea through joint training patrols with the United States and bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies, Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said on Thursday.

Inada said in a speech at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank that Japan's increased engagement in the area, where Japan shares U.S. concerns about China's pursuit of extensive territorial claims, would include capacity building for coastal nations.

Inada, whose country has its own dispute with China over territory in the East China Sea, said that if the world condoned attempts to change the rule of law and allowed "rule bending" to succeed, the "consequences could become global."

"In this context, I strongly support the U.S. Navy's freedom-of-navigation operations, which go a long way to upholding the rules-based international maritime order," she said.

"Japan, for its part, will increase its engagement in the South China Sea through, for example, Maritime Self-Defense Force joint training cruises with the U.S. Navy and bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies," she said.

Japan would also help build the capacity of coastal states in the South China Sea, said Inada, before heading for talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter at the Pentagon.

Japan said this month it was ready to provide Vietnam with new patrol ships, in its latest step to boost the maritime law-enforcement capabilities of countries locked in territorial rows with China.

It also agreed to provide two large patrol ships and lend up to five used surveillance aircraft to the Philippines, another country at odds with China over sovereignty issues in the South China Sea. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom, editing by G Crosse and Chizu Nomiyama) </s> Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday agreed to provide two large-sized patrol ships and lend up to five used surveillance aircraft to the Philippines, a Japanese government spokesman said, with both countries locked in territorial disputes with China.

Abe and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte agreed in Vientiane to strengthen cooperation to ensure a peaceful resolution of the South China Sea dispute, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda said.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.

An arbitration court in The Hague in July invalidated China's claims to the waterway after a case was brought by the Philippines, a ruling that Beijing refuses to recognise.

Japan's ties with China has been marred by a long-running territorial spat over a group of small islets in the East China Sea.

Japan has already agreed to provide 10 smaller-sized patrol ships to the Philippines. </s> Japan to boost S.China Sea role with joint training patrols with U.S. - minister

WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Japan plans to step up its activity in the contested South China Sea through joint training patrols with the United States and bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies, Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said on Thursday.

Inada said in a speech at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank that Japan's increased engagement in the area, where Japan shares U.S. concerns about China's pursuit of extensive territorial claims, would include capacity building for coastal nations. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom, editing by G Crosse) </s> Inada said in a speech at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank that Japan's increased engagement in the area, where Japan shares U.S. concerns about China's pursuit of extensive territorial claims, would include capacity building for coastal nations.

Inada, whose country has its own dispute with China over territory in the East China Sea, said that if the world condoned attempts to change the rule of law and allowed “rule bending” to succeed, the "consequences could become global."

"In this context, I strongly support the U.S. Navy's freedom-of-navigation operations, which go a long way to upholding the rules-based international maritime order," she said.

"Japan, for its part, will increase its engagement in the South China Sea through, for example, Maritime Self-Defense Force joint training cruises with the U.S. Navy and bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies," she said.

Japan would also help build the capacity of coastal states in the South China Sea, said Inada, before heading for talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter at the Pentagon.Japan said this month it was ready to provide Vietnam with new patrol ships, in its latest step to boost the maritime law-enforcement capabilities of countries locked in territorial rows with China.

It also agreed to provide two large patrol ships and lend up to five used surveillance aircraft to the Philippines, another country at odds with China over sovereignty issues in the South China Sea. </s> Story highlights Japan also plans to give aid to other South China Sea nations

There are competing claims to vast areas of sea by countries in the region

(CNN) Japan is planning on upping its activities in the South China Sea through joint training patrols with the United States and exercises with regional navies, Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said.

Japan would also be giving military aid to countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam as it increases its role in the contested waters of the South China Sea, Inada said Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, DC,

Inada also welcomed the US's plan to allocate 60% of its Navy and Air Force assets to the Asia Pacific region by 2020.

Territorial rows

Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan are engaged in territorial disputes with China. </s> Defense Minister Tomomi Inada on Thursday threw “strong support” behind U.S. freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea and vowed to increase engagement in the disputed waters as part of efforts to maintain a rules-based maritime order being challenged by China.

Speaking in Washington, Inada said Japan’s engagement would include joint training exercises involving the Maritime Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Navy, bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies, as well as providing capacity-building assistance to coastal nations facing China’s maritime expansion.

Inada criticized Beijing’s construction and militarization of island outposts in the South China Sea, and its rejection of an international arbitration ruling in July that invalidated its claims to almost the whole of the South China Sea.

“These Chinese actions constitute its deliberate attempt to unilaterally change the status quo, achieve a fait accompli, and undermine the prevailing norms,” she said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Later Thursday, Inada will hold talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter at the Pentagon.

Inada made the comments as China rejects the interference of non-claimant countries such as the United States and Japan in its territorial disputes with smaller neighbors in the South China Sea, such as the Philippines and Vietnam.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that Japan should “exercise caution in its words and deeds” on the South China Sea.

In Thursday’s speech, the defense minister also referred to repeated intrusions by Chinese law enforcement ships into Japanese waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and the first entry in June by a Chinese naval vessel into a contiguous zone just outside the waters around the islets.

The Japanese-administered islands, located about 400 km west of Okinawa’s main island, are claimed by China and Taiwan, which call them Diaoyu and Tiaoyutai, respectively.

“If the world condones coercive attempts to change the rules of the road in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and allow rule-bending to succeed in their waters and airspace, its consequences could become global, not to be confined in the Western Pacific,” Inada said.

“In this context, I strongly support the U.S. Navy’s Freedom of Navigation operations,” she added, referring to maritime maneuver in which the United States since last October has sent warships near artificial islets that China has built in the South China Sea.

But Inada also pledged that Japan will continue to “engage” China to encourage it to act as “an agent of stability and prosperity, not their spoiler.”

Regarding North Korea, which conducted its fifth nuclear test last week in defiance of international warnings, Inada also called for increased trilateral coordination with the United States and South Korea in addressing security threats posed by the sanctions-hit country.

Friday’s test came amid North Korea’s continuing pursuit of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs despite U.N. Security Council resolutions banning such activities. Pyongyang successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile in August.

“If and when it achieves operational status, North Korea’s SLBM system would bring improved survivability and a new mode of attack to its already formidable ballistic missile forces,” Inada said. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — Japan's defense minister says its forces will increase engagement in the South China Sea through training cruises with the U.S. Navy and multilateral exercises with regional navies.

Newly appointed Defense Minister Tomomi Inada says Japan will also help build the capacity of coastal nations. She was speaking ahead her first meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter Thursday in Washington.

Japan, a close U.S. ally, is not among the countries claiming territory in the disputed South China Sea but shares U.S. concern about China's assertive behavior there.

Japan has a separate territorial dispute with China over unoccupied islands they both claim farther north in the East China Sea.

Inada says she is open to constructive dialogue with China on preventing collisions between their forces at sea and in the air. </s> Chinese state media outlets have responded to news of potential joint U.S.-Japan operations in the disputed South China Sea with a spate of fiery editorials, but experts say Japan’s announcement of increased engagement in the waters breaks little new ground.

State media outlets said Saturday that any joint U.S.-Japan patrols in the South China Sea could prompt Beijing to beef up its military deployments in the hotly contested Spratly Islands — and ultimately set the stage for an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) declaration.

The reaction comes after a speech Thursday by Defense Minister Tomomi Inada to a Washington think tank in which she said Japan would “increase its engagement in the South China Sea through … Maritime Self-Defense Force joint training cruises with the U.S. Navy.”

The state-run Global Times, known for its strident nationalist stance, blasted the speech in an editorial Saturday, calling any joint patrols of the contested waters the “gunboat diplomacy of the 21st century.”

“The joint patrol, once it begins, is the ‘gunboat policy’ of the 21st century against China,” the editorial said. “China should resolutely begin military deployment on its expanded Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands) to balance the situation, and should notify ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries beforehand to allow the international society to know the cause of the increased tension.”

The commentary added that if the joint operations intensify or involve other countries, China could then declare a South China Sea ADIZ.

In such a scenario, it added, “Japanese naval ships should be the major target of China. Chinese warplanes may take sophisticated actions like low-altitude flyby against the ships to pressure Japan.”

In her speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, Inada said Japan would also continue its program of helping coastal nations bolster their maritime capabilities while conducting bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies.

Inada visited Washington last week for her first meeting with U.S. defense chief Ash Carter, where they discussed issues including North Korea and the South and East China seas.

Japan and the U.S. have emphasized the rule of law in settling international disputes, giving heavy backing to a July ruling by an international tribunal on the South China Sea that denied China’s sweeping claims in the strategic waterway.

Experts played down the reaction in Chinese state media, saying that Inada’s comments did not break new ground in Japan’s approach to the South China Sea.

“She talked about cruises, which means Japan will have some presence in the South China Sea when traveling back and forth from the Gulf of Aden and for port visits or exercises with regional partners, which is the same as before,” said James Schoff, a former senior adviser for East Asia policy at the U.S. Defense Department.

“So her speech is either being misrepresented or misunderstood. It doesn’t represent a policy change and seems only to be something that a few in China want to try to use to further escalate the situation,” Schoff added.

Zhang Baohui, director of the Centre for Asian Pacific Studies at Hong Kong’s Lingnan University, said that Japan’s presence in the South China Sea will not by itself become a significant driver of China’s militarization of the newly expanded islands there.

“However, Japan’s naval operations may generate far more dangerous scenarios like direct conflicts between the two navies,” Zhang said. “We cannot rule out scenarios of Chinese ships ramming Japanese ones or Chinese ships blocking their passage.

“China has done nothing directly against U.S. operations but Japan is a different story,” he added.

Additional commentaries were also published by the official Xinhua News Agency and the state-run China Daily on Saturday following Inada’s speech.

Xinhua said the true reason behind Tokyo’s apparent ramped-up interest in the South China Sea is not in those waters, but rather in the East China Sea.

Beijing is involved in a territorial dispute with Tokyo over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which are known as the Diaoyu Islands in China.

“That is where its true and major purpose lies, as revealed in the very same speech Inada made,” Xinhua said.

This echoed the Global Times commentary, which urged China to increase the frequency of coast guard patrols near the Senkakus since Japan is likely using the South China Sea dispute “to create space for itself in the East China Sea.”

Inada slammed Beijing’s moves near the Senkakus in her speech, saying Chinese maritime law enforcement vessels have maintained a sustained presence in the waters surrounding the islets, which she called an inherent part of Japanese territory.

“Their incursions into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkakus have become ‘routinized’ in recent years,” Inada said, according to a transcript of the speech.

“These moves clearly represent China’s unprovoked escalation in the waters surrounding Japan and its attempt to change the status quo,” she said, adding that Tokyo will “keep the door open” for “candid discussions” with China.

Lingnan University’s Zhang cast doubt on Beijing’s claims that the disputes are linked, saying that Tokyo is mainly worried the strategic waters — home to key shipping lanes through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes each year — could be dominated by China.

“I think Japan’s concerns for the South China Sea are long-standing and are driven by true strategic considerations,” Zhang said. “Japan has a profound fear that China may one day establish de facto control over the South China Sea and that will drastically affect Japan’s national security. So its announced intention of sending its navy to the South China Sea has its own strategic logic that is not related to China’s activities in the East China Sea.”
The Obama administration agrees to have the United States Armed Forces assist Japan on conducting joint patrols in the South China Sea.