Japan joins U.S.-Philippine humanitarian drills amid South China Sea dispute
Reuters
Japan joined U.S.-led maritime humanitarian exercises off the Philippines in August 2015 for the first time, as concerns mount among the three allies about China’s growing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
In mid-August 2015, a Japanese Navy replenishment ship was in Subic Bay, a former U.S. naval base, to refuel a U.S. Navy floating hospital en route to Vietnam for the seven-nation humanitarian mission.
It was the first time a Japanese Navy ship has taken part in the U.S.-led humanitarian assistance and disaster relief drills from Subic Bay. Japan has participated in past Pacific Partnership missions in other areas. In May 2015, Japan and the Philippines held their first joint naval exercises in the South China Sea to strengthen a military pact formed earlier in 2015.
Rear Adm. Charles Williams, commander of U.S. 7th Fleet’s Task Force 73, said humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercises are becoming a regular component of military exercises in the Philippines.
“You are seeing in exercises … a shift from strictly bilateral engagement to multilateral, which is why you see the Japanese here today,” Williams told journalists aboard USNS Mercy, one of two U.S. hospital ships.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which U.S. $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have overlapping claims. Japan and China also have conflicting claims in the East China Sea.
Williams said the presence of Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano, head of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces, “speaks volumes about their commitment to the region and their commitment to being part of a multilateral engagement.”
Kawano met in August 2015 with his Philippine counterpart, Gen. Hernando Iriberri, and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin in Manila, where he expressed interest in holding joint amphibious landing exercises and operations with Philippine marines.
In a meeting with Gazmin, Kawano also expressed interest in sharing information in the South China Sea and capacity building, particularly in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Williams said humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations were “a great avenue towards increasing maritime stability and security in this region,” part of Washington’s rebalance to Asia policy.
