Japanese warship JS Ise (DDH 182) of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) docks at the Alava Pier in Subic Bay. The ship is in the country for a four-day goodwill visit. (INQUIRER PHOTO)
A Japanese warship sailed into a Philippine port near disputed South China Sea waters on Tuesday in another sign of deepening security ties between the World War II foes to counter Beijing.
Tensions in the South China Sea—through which one-third of the world’s oil passes—have mounted in recent years since China transformed contested reefs into artificial islands capable of supporting military facilities.
The Japanese destroyer Ise docked in Subic Bay while on a “navigational training” mission, the ship’s captain said.
It marked the second time in just more than three weeks that Japanese naval vessels visited Subic, a former major US naval base that lies around 200 kilometers from a Chinese-controlled shoal.
“We want to deepen the relationship with the Philippines,” Ise Captain Masaki Takada told reporters, who were given a tour of the vessel. The Philippines, a US security ally with a severely under-equipped military has been seeking to strengthen ties with Japan as tensions mount over the disputed waterway, almost all of which is claimed by China.
Besides the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan also have overlapping claims.
Japan has its own dispute with China in the East China Sea over uninhabited islands that it administers but that are also claimed by Beijing.