PH, Japan, US confirm importance of Taiwan Strait peace Kyodo News

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.

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