Manila. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday that Japan and the Philippines would begin talks on two proposed defense agreements to strengthen their security alliance and counter growing aggression in contested Asian waters, an implicit rebuke of China.

Ishiba and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also discussed the global economic fallout from tariffs imposed by former US President Donald Trump and China’s retaliatory measures. Speaking at a joint news conference in Manila, Ishiba said he would consult Japanese companies operating in the Philippines to “work toward a better solution,” though he did not elaborate.

Ishiba arrived in the Philippines after visiting Vietnam, another Southeast Asian nation that has faced increasingly hostile encounters with Chinese coast guard, naval, and suspected militia forces in recent years.

China did not immediately respond to Ishiba’s remarks. Beijing claims nearly the entire South China Sea and has ramped up its military presence there, including artificial island bases. Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan are also involved in the long-running territorial disputes.

In the East China Sea, China frequently sends coast guard vessels and aircraft into areas surrounding islands claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing, harassing Japanese vessels and prompting Japan to scramble fighter jets in response.

“We oppose any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo through force or coercion in the East and South China Seas,” Ishiba said, pointedly referring to China without naming it. “I hope that our two countries will continue to work closely together to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law.”

The first agreement under negotiation, known as the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, would allow Japanese forces to receive food, fuel, and other logistical support during joint training exercises in the Philippines. These activities fall under a major defense accord signed last year and pending ratification in Japan’s legislature.

The second proposed pact concerns the protection of highly classified defense and military information shared between the two nations. The US and the Philippines signed a similar agreement in November to secure the exchange of sensitive military intelligence and technology critical to upcoming American weapons deliveries to Manila.

Ishiba said he and Marcos also reaffirmed the importance of their trilateral alliance with the United States. Washington has repeatedly warned Beijing over its aggressive actions in disputed waters, particularly against Japan and the Philippines, two of its closest treaty allies in Asia.

However, Trump-era tariffs on imports from Japan, the Philippines, and other nations have created awkward tensions among these allies. “The US tariff measures have dealt a major blow to the economies of both Vietnam and the Philippines,” Ishiba said over the weekend in Tokyo. “There have also been significant impacts on Japanese companies expanding into these countries.”

Japanese officials said Ishiba would meet with Japanese business executives in the Philippines to hear their concerns.

On Wednesday, Ishiba is scheduled to visit a Japanese war memorial in Laguna province before boarding the BRP Melchora Aquino, one of two largest patrol ships built by Japan for the Philippine Coast Guard, in Manila.

The Aquino has been involved in several tense encounters with Chinese coast guard vessels in the South China Sea, including a 2024 incident at Sabina Shoal in which the ship was damaged. Both countries traded blame over the confrontation.

Japan has provided a dozen patrol ships to the Philippines in recent years to support its maritime defense in the South China Sea. At least five more vessels are planned, along with radar systems and other defense equipment for the underfunded Philippine military.

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