Japan and the Philippines signed a five-year anti-chemical warfare cooperation agreement in July 2012, according to which Japan plans to provide 12 new patrol ships and financial assistance to the Philippine Coast Guard. Philippine Foreign Minister Del Rosario recently said the Philippines would be glad if Japan could reinstall armaments and enhance their capabilities to counter China's growing military force.
Regarding this, Jin Yinan, director of the Institute of Strategic Studies of the National Defense University said in an interview with China National Radio that the Japan-Philippines military cooperation will only be limited in a modest scale because the Philippines' financial strength is limited. Philippine politicians are digging their own grave by playing such same old trick.
The Philippines' recent moves to draw close to the so-called allies in the surrounding region can be described as having forgotten the historical traumas. Jin said the Philippines wanted to get rid of the control of the United States when it was occupied by Japan, but the result was disastrous.
A few days ago, Philippine politicians played the old tricks and wanted to take advantage of Japan's forces to contain China's development. Jin said that such move will certainly remind the United States of the memories of World War II and if a little too excessive, is likely to "lift a rock only to drop it on their own feet".
Jin said the Japan-Philippines military cooperation will only be limited to a modest scale. The Philippines can only get some second-hand out-of-date small naval vessels from Japan. The Philippines has limited financial resources and has the urgent need to revitalize their domestic economy. But the leaders of the Philippines appear to have little interest in developing the economy instead they show great interest in developing cold war confrontation. We can wait and see in the future how much financial strength it has left to deal with its people and how much to buy Japanese military equipment. The facts will prove the pros and cons of such move of Philippines.
Jin said that the political, economic, military, and diplomatic affairs of any country are always like a unified set of "licensing board". When the Philippines takes such a series of moves to fully compete with China, China should adjust its diplomatic direction and no longer allows certain countries opposing it politically to have economic cooperation with it.
Read the Chinese version: 金一南：菲呼唤日军国主义重生无异于饮鸩止渴, source: People's Daily Online
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