Japan ready to help with Philippines' security needs, Phl envoy says

TOKYO — Japan is ready to provide the Philippines its security needs because it wants the South China Sea to remain open to ensure the free passage of its goods, a Filipino envoy said Tuesday. 

Philippine Ambassador to Japan Jose Laurel V said Tokyo depends on Manila because it is located in an area where its shipments pass through. 

The Philippines, located south of Japan, is embroiled in a longstanding maritime row with China over parts of the South China Sea, where about $5 trillion worth of goods pass through every year.

Laurel noted that Japan is surrounded by countries that are not friendly to it namely North Korea in the north, Russia in the northeast, and China in the west.

"When they go south, what is the first country they will reach there? Philippines. So Japan is a trading...country. It survives on selling their manufactured goods to the world. They have to keep the shipping lanes open. So their only way out is towards the south, keep the east Indian Ocean alive and get to Europe. If they want to get to the (US), then they have to travel towards the west coast of the United States," the envoy said in a press briefing here.

"Well you must remember that because we are very intimate friends, Japan greatly also depends on the Philippines," he added.

Laurel said this reality would prompt Japan to help the Philippines in terms of security.

"Japan will support the Philippines in its needs, particularly in security," he said, noting that the East Asian country has agreed to provide ten Coast Guard ships and other defense assets.

"That is why among others, Japan is very important not only to the Philippines. But the other countries also depend on them," he added.

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Like the Philippines, Japan also has a maritime dispute with China, with the two east Asian countries claiming the Senkaku Islands—China calls them the Diaoyu Islands—in the East China Sea.

Manila and Tokyo have consistently called for a peaceful and rules-based resolution to territorial and maritime disputes in the region.

Japan is also concerned about piracy in Malacca Strait and Sulu Sea which may hamper the free flow of goods, Laurel said. If the risks remain, insurers would demand higher premiums from companies shipping goods, which in turn would raise prices.

"So it is also to the interest of Japan that he supports us and vice versa. So all of this is interrelated. So the talks have to be done," Laurel said.

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