By Wang Jiaxi
During Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's visit to Japan from May 26 to 29, Japan and the Philippines reached a consensus on launching formal negotiations on a General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). If concluded, the agreement would become the first security intelligence-sharing arrangement signed between Japan and a Southeast Asian country.
Japan has already concluded similar agreements with the US, the UK, India and the ROK. According to analysts, Japan's intensive efforts to build an external military intelligence-sharing network are aimed at breaking free from the constraints of its pacifist Constitution, advancing its remilitarization agenda, and paving the way for greater involvement in regional security affairs.
The GSOMIA is far more than an ordinary cooperation document. In essence, it represents a key step toward building a quasi-military alliance and enhancing interoperability for joint military operations. Intelligence cooperation is highly sensitive. Establishing a sharing mechanism requires long-term, deep mutual trust and openness between the two sides in the military domain, while imposing stringent requirements on the compatibility of intelligence collection, processing, and transmission systems, as well as supporting infrastructure.
Once the GSOMIA is signed, military cooperation between Japan and the Philippines will extend into the most sensitive and critical areas. Through intelligence support, equipment assistance, and training cooperation, Japan will be able to substantially elevate the level of bilateral military interaction and operational coordination.
While using intelligence sharing as the "glue" to advance Japan-Philippines ties toward a quasi-alliance, Japan has sought to cloak its military buildup in the rhetoric of "rules," "security" and "partnership." Its real objective is to provide the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) with a seemingly legitimate pretext to break through geographic and legal constraints and become more deeply involved in regional affairs.
In fact, military ties between Japan and the Philippines have grown increasingly close in recent years. From the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), which facilitates troop mutual visits and joint exercises, to the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), which addresses logistical support, the two countries have steadily expanded military cooperation. Their agreement to launch formal negotiations on a GSOMIA is intended to complete the final piece of the intelligence puzzle in Japan-Philippines military cooperation, creating a comprehensive security cooperation framework that links intelligence sharing, logistical support, and military coordination. Once in place, these bilateral intelligence and defense agreements could serve as institutional leverage for Japan to seek purported legitimacy for its remilitarization and military expansion.
It is worth noting that once the military intelligence-sharing mechanism between Japan and the Philippines is established, bilateral cooperation between the two countries will further deepen. In recent years, Japan has actively sought to embed itself in the alliance structures of the so-called Indo-Pacific region. Through building "minilateral" mechanisms and "small circles" in the name of multilateralism, it has attempted to layer bilateral agreements, trilateral cooperation, and quadrilateral dialogues into an interconnected network. Its objective is to build a regional alliance architecture with Japan at its center and secure a pivotal position in the regional security framework.
As for the Philippines, in recent years, it has become one of the first recipients of Japan's Official Security Assistance (OSA) program and has received equipment including coastal surveillance radars. At present, the two sides are also in talks on the export to the Philippines of command and control systems, decommissioned frigates, and Type 03 surface-to-air missile systems. Among these, the export of command and control systems is closely related to real-time intelligence sharing in bilateral and multilateral settings.
By signing a GSOMIA with Japan, the Philippines seeks to expand intelligence sharing with Tokyo, reduce its perceived information disadvantage, and enhance its so-called "situational awareness" as well as its capacity for provocation. At the same time, the Philippines seeks to use Japan as a platform to expand intelligence cooperation with countries such as the US and Australia. Through deeper strategic alignment and greater convergence of interests, Manila hopes to secure Japan's support in the political, economic, military, and diplomatic fields, thereby gaining backing for its actions in the relevant waters.
As an Asian country that once suffered greatly under Japanese militarist aggression and paid a heavy price during WWII, the Philippines is now, for the sake of short-term political calculations, aligning itself with the rising tide of Japanese neo-militarism and treating a former aggressor as a welcomed partner. Such short-sighted behavior, which disregards historical facts and overlooks the suffering of its own people, is a distortion of historical justice. Nor will it bring genuine security to the Philippines. Instead, it risks turning the country into a pawn in major power competition and drawing it ever deeper into a dangerous vortex.
Japan and the Philippines, driven by their own narrow calculations, are seeking to build exclusive military groupings under the banner of "cooperation" and promote bloc confrontation. Such actions seriously undermine peace and stability in the surrounding region and erode mutual trust and cooperation among regional countries. Countries in the region should remain highly vigilant, recognize the harmful nature of such moves, and work together to safeguard the hard-won environment of peace and development.
(The author is from the School of International Studies, Dalian University of Foreign Languages)