Japan has presented the Philippines with radar equipment to help it more closely observe Chinese activity in the region. Often, detection is pretty easy: China Coast Guard or other ships are ramming Philippine vessels or spaying them with water cannons. But not all PRC maritime movements are or will be so overt (Asian Times, February 11, 2026).
The government of Japan on Wednesday officially turned over five coastal radar systems to the Philippines in what is seen as a milestone in defense ties amid China’s rising aggression in the South China Sea.
The defense articles are under Tokyo’s Official Security Assistance for fiscal year 2023 and are envisioned to “significantly enhance the Philippine Navy’s Maritime Domain Awareness” initiatives, Manila’s defense department said.
The project includes radar units, surveillance and monitoring equipment, communications systems and other support components designed to strengthen coastal monitoring and maritime security operations.
During the official transfer, Japan’s envoy to Manila, Endo Kazuya, called it a “milestone in the steadily deepening partnership between our two countries.” He said that the Official Security Assistance framework “reflects Japan’s resolute commitment to working closely with like-minded partners.”
And: “The South China Sea is a vital sea lane for many countries through which a large portion of our trade and energy supplies pass. Safety, openness, and stability of these waters are therefore of direct importance to our own security and prosperity.”
The Philippine defense secretary, Gilberto Teodoro Jr., was on hand to express his country’s appreciation of the partnership.
Diplomacy
Meanwhile, Ji Lingpeng, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Manila, was chastising Filipino senators for knowing “little about how diplomacy works. We firmly reject and strongly condemn the said anti-China resolution. Some Philippine legislators repeatedly resort to threats and intimidation against Chinese diplomats.”
The resolution he’s talking about—or “reso,” in the words of the Manila Standard—objects to the Chinese embassy’s verbal attacks on Philippine officials and affirms the rights of the Philippines in the South China Sea.
“The West Philippine Sea is ours. We stand behind our men in uniform, we oppose and we condemn the lies, the disinformation, and the maligning being undertaken by China against senators, congressmen, against our men in uniform,” says the resolution’s author, Senator Kiko Pangilinan.
I can’t find the text of the resolution, but according to Pangilinan, its adoption “reflects the Senate’s institutional support for the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It reaffirms the country’s claims in the West Philippine Sea and seeks to protect Filipino fishermen and Coast Guard personnel from harassment in these waters.”
