The trilateral summit between the US, Japan, and the Philippines extended beyond discussions concerning the South China Sea matter.

The necessity lies in establishing the United States as a reliable ally in Southeast Asia, extending beyond just security considerations.

The inaugural trilateral summit between the United States, Japan, and the Philippines was held in Washington DC on April 11, 2024, with the aim of strengthening economic and security collaboration among the three nations. The US hosted the meeting amidst escalating tensions between the Philippines and China over the Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

In late March of that year, two China Coast Guard vessels used high-pressure water cannons on a Philippines resupply vessel en route to Second Thomas Shoal, causing severe damage and injuring two Filipino sailors. Various countries have shown support for the Philippines, exemplified by a naval exercise conducted jointly by the US, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines earlier in the month.

On April 11, 2024, the United States hosted the first-ever trilateral summit with Japan and the Philippines in Washington DC. The primary objective of this summit was to enhance economic and security collaboration among the three nations. The meeting occurred against the backdrop of escalating tensions between the Philippines and China, particularly concerning the Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

In late March of the same year, two China Coast Guard vessels employed high-pressure water cannons on a Philippines resupply vessel bound for the Second Thomas Shoal, resulting in significant damage to the ship and injuries to two Filipino sailors. Several countries, including the US, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines, have shown solidarity with the Philippines by conducting a joint naval exercise earlier in the month.

India has joined other nations in condemning China's aggressive actions in the disputed waters, particularly following the recent incident involving the Philippines. India expressed its support for the Philippines in defending its territorial sovereignty. The leaders affirmed that they would collectively oppose any unilateral attempts by China to alter the status quo in the South China Sea and the East China Sea through force.

Among the notable statements, US President Biden emphasized that the United States' commitments to the defense of Japan and the Philippines are unwavering. He stated that any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels, or armed forces in the South China Sea would trigger the mutual defense treaty between the US and the Philippines. This statement has garnered significant attention from policy analysts worldwide.

Furthermore, the trilateral summit resulted in agreements on various defense, security, and economic initiatives. These include plans for joint naval patrols, enhanced coast guard cooperation, and the implementation of significant infrastructure projects.

Towards contributing to the maritime capacity building of the Philippines, Japan and the US have agreed to the establishment of a trilateral maritime dialogue to enhance coordination and collective responses to promote maritime cooperation. The US has also invited the Filipino and Japanese coast guard members to join an US coast guard during a trilateral patrol in the Indo-Pacific. Additionally Tokyo and Manila are slated to conclude the signing of the Reciprocal Access Agreement by the end of the year. But countering the Chinese aggressive encroachments in the South China Sea was not the only agenda of this meeting and hence security cooperation was not the sole focus of the meeting as well.

On the economic side, the three leaders announced a new infrastructure project called the PGI Luzon Economic Corridor, which will connect Subic Bay, Clark, Manila and Batangas through the building of ports, rail, clean energy facilities and semiconductor supply chains. Furthermore, they have agreed to cooperate on establishing next-generation Open RAN (Radio Access Network) communication in the Philippines. The US and Japan plan to provide at least $8 million for Open RAN field trials and the Asia Open RAN Academy based in Manila.

In keeping the agenda of the meeting a wide ranging one, the message that was put across from the end of the US is that the sole focus of this summit was not only to discuss measures for countering and helping the Philippines manage the growing tensions with China at the Second Thomas Shoal. Cooperative arrangements just focussing on balancing or dealing with the growing Chinese threat is difficult to sustain for the long term.

The need is for the US to be seen as a trusted partner and not just a security one in Southeast Asia. The aim of the meeting has been to strengthen cooperation with two of its security allies in the Indo-Pacific and ensure that both Japan and the Philippines figure more prominently in the US’ Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy. The US has to focus on other domains or areas of cooperation, the most prominent being economic and infrastructure development in Southeast Asia.

It has often been pointed out that while the US has been actively engaged in boosting and championing security cooperation in Southeast Asia, it has faltered when it comes to economic cooperation and promoting infrastructure development in the region. The US’ Indo-Pacific strategy has also been termed as too security driven by countries in this region.

Additionally, the Southeast Asian nations have mixed perceptions and opinions about the Philippines’ strategy of entering into minilateral arrangements with countries like the US, Japan and its growing security ties with the US, like the updating of the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement, whereby the US has been recently granted the access to four new sites on top of the existing five, joint naval exercises with US and its partners.

While the Philippines believes that its ‘engagement with like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific’ will help reduce incidents with China (as is being witnessed in recent times) in the South China Sea. But among its neighbours in the region, there is a concern that these initiatives can trigger China which might lead to a confrontation or further escalation of the dispute in the South China Sea.

While the Philippines has been receptive and forthcoming towards enhancing its security partnership with the US under the Marcos Jr. regime, it is not likely that the other southeast Asian nations would be following suit. Japan has a long history of economic cooperation, development assistance, being one of the leading investors in the infrastructure development projects and is therefore seen as a trusted partner in the region, but the US still has a long road ahead in this aspect.

Given the buildup to this meeting, with the joint naval exercise (maritime cooperative activity) in the Philippines’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to demonstrate ‘collective commitment’ for upholding a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, the intensification of the defence ties between the US and the Philippines, and maritime cooperation between the Philippines and Japan. It was being predicted that the South China Sea will be the main discussion point of this meeting, but with the manifold focus of the meeting ranging from Inclusive Economic Growth and Economic Resilience; infrastructure development (Luzon Corridor), critical and emerging technologies; climate partnership and clean energy supply chains; as well as defence and security, it can be expected that this summit will not be seen through a critical lens by the other Southeast Asian nations.

The author is a Fellow with the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi and Japan Foundation Indo-Pacific Partnership Research Fellow currently based in Tokyo. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.

Source: Firstpost‍