MANILA – Japan believes that it is important to promote cooperation with like-minded allies in upholding and strengthening a free and open international order based on the rule of law.
This is according to a statement released by the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines after a trilateral meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister KAMIKAWA Yoko, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo, during the General Assembly of the United Nations held last week in New York.
In a statement, Minister Kamikawa welcomed the second Japan-U.S.-Philippines Foreign Ministers’ Meeting following the last meeting held last July where the officials discussed the way forward for concrete cooperation as the momentum to enhance the trilateral cooperation is growing.
This is after informal talks among Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month.
Kamikawa then stated that “it is important to promote multilayered collaboration with allies and like-minded countries for upholding and strengthening the free and open international order based on the rule of law”.
She also mentioned the “recent severe strategic environment”, including the situation in the South China Sea, wherein the three Ministers concurred to further strengthen coordination among the three countries and promote the “materialization of the trilateral cooperation”.
Meanwhile, in a statement released by the U.S. State Department, Blinken said that the U.S. is looking forward to following up on the work started to explore how the three countries can strengthen the trilateral cooperation and maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
“We are very pleased and proud today to continue the work that we’re doing to support and work with our Filipino and Japanese allies in the South China Sea and in the East China Sea, and we’re looking forward to following up on the work that we’ve already started to look at how we can strengthen trilateral cooperation among us to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, and also to foster, to strengthen economic resilience and to promote the common prosperity of our people,” Blinken said.
Blinken added that all three countries believe that on a trilateral basis, this can produce positive benefits not only for Japan, U.S. and the Philippines, but also for other countries and partners in the region and beyond.
The DFA also confirms that the Ministers discussed possible activities for trilateral cooperation and will come up with a work plan.
In his post on X (formerly twitter), Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines KOSHIKAWA Kazuhiko called the meeting “fruitful” and said that the leaders stand as one to uphold multilateralism based on (the) rule of law and (is) stand(ing) firm against common challenges.
