Japan is preparing military aid for the Philippines to help secure sea approaches and safeguard Taiwan's western flank, officials say, deepening security ties that could bring Japanese forces back there for the first time since World War Two.
Japan's military aid to the Philippines "will expand step by step and my hope is that it will change to include lethal weapons" such as anti-ship missiles, said Kawano, who served as chief of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces' Joint Staff for five years until 2019.
In February the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Kishida agreed in Tokyo that their militaries would cooperate in disaster relief. All of this, experts say, could be a precursor to a reciprocal access agreement that would allow both countries to deploy their forces on each other's soil. If Manila accepts such an agreement - Tokyo has RAAs with Britain and Australia - a pact could be concluded within a year, another of the three Japanese government officials said.
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