Japan’s 1st Asian Military Access Agreement Is Ratified by Philippines

Both nations have seen increasing aggression from the Chinese military.

Sailors work on board the JS Amagiri (DD-154), an Asagiri-class destroyer in the Japan maritime self-defense force, as it arrives at port in Manila, Philippines, on Feb. 2, 2018. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

The Philippine Senate on Dec. 16 ratified a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan, the first of its kind that Tokyo has signed in Asia, shoring up an alliance amid increasing concern over the Chinese regime’s military aggression in the region.

The 19 senators present for the vote at the legislative hall in Manila unanimously ratified the agreement. Japan’s ambassador to the Philippines, Kazuya Endo, was in attendance.