(15 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Manila, Philippines – 15 January 2025
1. Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo (left) with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya sitting down
2. Pan from Iwaya to Manalo
3. Various of bilateral meeting between Philippine and Japan officials
4. Pan from reporter asking question to Ministers Iwaya and Manalo at lecterns
5. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Takeshi Iwaya, Japanese Foreign Minister:
“I am gravely concerned about repeated actions that heighten regional tensions in the South China Sea. Issues over the South China Sea are a legitimate concern for the international community because it directly links to regional peace and stability. Japan strongly opposes any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force or building up tension in the region. We strongly ask for easing of tensions."
6. Cutaway of reporters
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Iwaya Takeshi, Japanese Foreign Minister: ++SOUNDBITE ZOOMS IN++
"In particular, we reaffirmed that we will continue to provide assistance to the Philippines including for maritime security through the OSA (Official Security Assistance), as well as the improvement of maritime safety capabilities through ODA (Official Development Assistance)."
8. Iwaya and Manolo shaking hands
STORYLINE:
Japan and the Philippines will convey to President-elect Donald Trump the urgent need for the U.S. to remain committed to help uphold the rule of law in an Asian region where security issues have become “a legitimate concern for the international community,” Japan’s top diplomat said Wednesday.
The U.S., Japan and the Philippines have been building an alliance under outgoing President Joe Biden since last year to deal with China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea and East China Sea. Trump’s “America First” foreign policy thrust has triggered concerns about the scale and depth of U.S. commitment to the region under his new term.
"Issues over the South China Sea are a legitimate concern for the international community because it directly links to regional peace and stability,” Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said in a news conference with his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo, in Manila.
Iwaya said he was scheduled to attend Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration as one of Washington’s closest treaty allies in Asia along with the Philippines.
An alarming spike in confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and other forces in the busy sea passage has set off fears of a major escalation that could draw in the United States, which has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to help defend Philippine forces if they come under an armed attack in the South China Sea.
A large Chinese coast guard ship patrolled hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal in recent days and then sailed toward the northwestern coast of the Philippines on Tuesday, coming as close as 77 nautical miles (143 kilometers), the Philippine coast guard said.
A Chinese official said in Beijing that his country’s sovereignty in the South China Sea is well established and its coast guard patrols are lawful and justified.
The Chinese government has repeatedly accused the Philippines and other rival claimant states including Vietnam and Malaysia of encroaching on what it says are “undisputed” Chinese territorial waters.
The rival claimants have been holding talks, called the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism for years to prevent the disputes from worsening into a major armed conflict.
AP video by Joeal Calupitan
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