PH, Japan, US confirm importance of Taiwan Strait peace ---

Japan, the United States and the Philippines agreed Friday on the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, amid China's increasing military assertiveness there and other parts of the Indo-Pacific region. The three countries also pledged to deepen their trilateral cooperation to "maintain and strengthen a free and open international order," in a joint press release issued after the first three-way talks in Tokyo among their security advisors. Takeo Akiba, secretary general of Japan's National Security Secretariat, and his U.S. and Philippine counterparts, Jake Sullivan and Eduardo Ano, attended the meeting. The gathering took place with tensions between Washington and Beijing mounting over issues such as Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that Communist-led China regards as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary. China has been stepping up its military pressure on Taiwan, which has been governed independently since it split from China in 1949 following a civil war. Based on bilateral U.S. security alliances with Japan and the Philippines, respectively, the three countries will work together and enhance their response capabilities "in order to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region," the release said. "A free and open maritime order, characterized by freedom of navigation, and a free, fair, and equitable economic order are essential," especially given "unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion," it added. The words are apparently addressed at China, which has been exercising military and economic assertiveness in the region including East and South China seas, where Tokyo and Manila are facing challenges related to Beijing's territorial claims in their nearby waters. Referring to the three nations' first joint drill by their coast guards earlier in June off Manila Bay, the three security advisors also "discussed opportunities to conduct combined maritime activities." North Korea, whose missile and nuclear programs have been posing threats to the region, was among other "regional security challenges" brought up during the gathering, according to the press release. The officials also shared the view that the three nations should boost their collaboration in such fields as humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and economic security, while deciding to hold "additional trilateral exchanges in the coming months" among their organizations. Japan, the United States and the Philippines held their first quadrilateral defense ministerial meeting involving Australia in Singapore early this month, where they pledged to step up their security cooperation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more