Tokyo and Manila have long been allies of the United States, which has been strengthening its alliances to counter China’s growing military strength and influence in the region.
Japan and the Philippines signed a key defense pact on Monday that would enable them to deploy troops in each other’s countries, as they bolster security relations amid China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) was signed in Manila, with Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa meeting their Philippine counterparts Gilberto Teodoro and Enrique Manalo.
“A free and open international order based on the rule of law is the foundation of regional peace and prosperity,” she said. “We would like to work closely with your country to maintain and strengthen this,” Kamikawa said.
The defense pact with Manila is Tokyo’s first in Asia.
Japan has previously signed similar deals with Australia in 2022 and with the UK in 2023. It also upgraded a longstanding treaty with the US, originally from 1951, in April this year.
I love when I bring up the growing tensions in the South China seas, people are like “whatever, nothing new.”
My bet stands firm that the South China Sea will be the flashpoint for WWIII. Likely within the year. Certainly before 2031.
I agree that region will play a key part. But I think that the domino that sends the rest falling is going to be Canada annexing Greenland. Nobody is expecting it, and it won’t be long before Greenland is actually green so it makes sense from a territorial perspective. But the sudden shift is going to make Great Britain nervous, and they’ll take Iceland in response as a buffer against Canuck imperialism. While they’re distracted in the north, Argentina will be all “fucking FINALLY” and take the Falklands. China of course will have taken Taiwan by this time and things will be very chaotic.
But while everyone is busy stealing land, pointing fingers, and disseminating misinformational propaganda, Antarctica will have had enough. Sayonara, big-ass ice shelf. Hello, ~1m (or more!) sea level rise. Suddenly those islands don’t seem so important.
In any case, King Trump/Biden the First will seize the opportunity and invade Antarctica, treaty or no, as recompense for Florida, the Mississippi River delta, and most of NJ. Which will turn out to be very prescient when it’s realized that the frozen (for now) fresh water is more valuable than the oil they went after in the first place.
6th front of WW3 in antarctica…ugh…
You know… When Trump talked about buying Greenland everyone was gobsmacked.
My, admittedly uninformed take, is that Putin wants the US, and Greenland… And Canada. Because that’s like >50% of the land on earth.
That’s about as deep as I thought about it.
I strongly doubt it will be within a year
Trump is pro-China so if he wins then no retaliation will occur and Europe will be busy with Russia
If Biden wins then they can just wait
India is the only nation that can put up a fight there and they don’t care about the other countries
