Japan, Philippines to step up security ties amid China worry

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — The defense ministers of Japan and the Philippines have agreed to bolster security cooperation and expand joint drills between their forces, and shared concerns about China’s increasingly assertive military actions in the region. Japan’s Defense Ministry says Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and his Philippine counterpart, Delfin Lorenzana, also shared concern about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact in the Indo-Pacific. Japan has significantly expanded joint drills with the United States and other partners, including Australia, India, France, Britain and Germany, that share its concerns about China’s assertion of its territorial claims in the region, which has some of the world’s busiest sea lanes.