Japan, Philippines to enhance security ties as China's clout grows

The Japanese and the Philippine defense ministers affirmed Thursday that they will further boost security cooperation by conducting joint exercises amid China's increasing clout in the Indo-Pacific region.The agreement between Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and his Philippine counterpart Delfin Lorenzana at a meeting in Tokyo comes as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has raised concern about its ramifications for the region.Kishi and Lorenzana reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific, and that attempts to change the status quo by force is "unacceptab…READ FULL ARTICLE