MANILA – Japan and the Philippines pledged to boost defense ties as both nations expressed concern over China’s establishment of an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea.
“Both of us have affirmed that China’s unilateral action to change the status quo by force or coercive action will bring back tension in this region,” Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters in Manila on Saturday after meeting with his Philippine counterpart, Voltaire Gazmin. They agreed to “expand and deepen” cooperation on “defense authorities,” he said.
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