Japan, US, Philippines to launch security talks

Members of the Japan Coast Guard Disaster Relief Team, Philippine Coast Guard officials and members of the US Coast Guard Oil Spill Response Team pose for a photo during a courtesy call at the Philippine Coast Guard National Headquarters in response to a request for assistance from the Philippine Coast Guard with the cleanup of an oil spill, in Manila on March 20, 2023. (AFP)

TOKYO: Japan, the United States and the Philippines are preparing to establish a formal framework for high-level ministerial talks on security matters, the Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.
The three countries are considering holding their first meeting as early as April, Kyodo said.
The move comes as Taiwan, which lies between Japan and the Philippines, has become a focal point of intensifying Chinese military activity that Tokyo and Washington worry could escalate into war.
Japan held joint military exercises with the United States and the Philippines as recently as October.