{"id":17927,"date":"2026-05-06T10:41:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T10:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/17927\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T10:41:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T10:41:31","slug":"japan-philippines-aim-to-fast-track-transfer-of-navy-destroyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/17927\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan, Philippines Aim to Fast-Track Transfer of Navy Destroyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s defense minister pledged to deepen military cooperation with the Philippines during a visit Tuesday to Manila, aiming for the \u201cearly transfer\u201d of Abukuma-class destroyers<\/a> to the archipelago nation.<\/p>\n

The two countries\u2019 shared grievances over Chinese territorial claims<\/a> have seen them draw increasingly close in recent years, including the signing of a reciprocal access agreement allowing for the deployment of troops on each other\u2019s territory.<\/p>\n

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi\u2018s visit came as a contingent of 1,400 Japanese personnel was participating for the first time in annual US-Philippine military exercises<\/a>, and just weeks after Tokyo eased decades-old arms export rules<\/a> in a major policy shift.<\/p>\n

Speaking alongside Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro, Koizumi \u2014 who signed a defense pact with Indonesia a day earlier<\/a> \u2014 said that the two countries would create a working group focused on defense equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe agreed to move forward with discussions aimed at realizing comprehensive equipment cooperation\u2026 with a view to the early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft as well as other defense equipment,\u201d Koizumi said.<\/p>\n

The Abukuma-class vessels, which are being retired by Japan, have been on the Philippines\u2019 radar for some time, with the military saying it would send a contingent to examine them in 2025.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters after the briefing, Teodoro said the destroyers would be a donation rather than a purchase, without specifying how many would be involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe transfer is a giveaway,\u201d he said, adding the Philippines would also now \u201cbe able to buy defense equipment\u201d given the recent shift in Japanese policy.<\/p>\n

Japanese media have reported that offering the destroyers free of charge or at a steeply discounted rate would require further changes to the country\u2019s self-defense laws.<\/p>\n

Koizumi reiterated Japan\u2019s opposition to the use of \u201cforce or coercion in the East China Sea and the South China Sea\u201d, noting what he called an \u201cincreasingly tense regional environment\u201d.<\/p>\n

China has deployed navy and coast guard vessels in a bid to bar the Philippines from strategically important reefs and islands in the South China Sea, leading to a string of confrontations.<\/p>\n

Beijing claims the crucial waterway in nearly its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.<\/p>\n

Tokyo, meanwhile, has been a key financier of Philippine efforts to modernize its South China Sea patrol craft as well as maritime surveillance systems.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the two countries signed a fuel and ammunition resupply agreement.<\/p>\n

Both Koizumi and Teodoro are expected to travel to Ilocos Norte province to watch on Wednesday as Japan uses a Type 88 anti-ship missile to sink a decommissioned World War II-era navy ship.<\/p>\n

US, Philippine and Canadian forces will also take part in the exercise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s defense minister pledged to deepen military cooperation with the Philippines during a visit Tuesday to Manila, aiming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8,17,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-17927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-japan","8":"tag-japan","9":"tag-japanese","10":"tag-philippines"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}