Philippines to have Coastal Surveillance Radars near Taiwan

This photo taken on Dec. 1, 2024, shows a new Philippine military base on an island in the country’s northernmost province of Batanes.

The Philippines will establish coastal surveillance radars provided by Japan,in its northernmost province of Batanes, the country’s top military official said Thursday.

He emphasized the need to bolster defence and keep a critical water way near Taiwan open.

Japan announced in 2023 a grant of five coastal surveillance radars valued at 600 million yen to the Philippines under its “official security assistance” framework, established that year to deepen security cooperation with like-minded nations.

In December, Tokyo pledged to provide an additional set of radars.”We need to set up radars in all the chokepoints that we see.

So the radars provided by Japan are a big help,” Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner told Kyodo News, stressing the defence of the entire archipelago while acknowledging regional issues.

The Bashi Channel, located between Taiwan and Batanes, is a critical chokepoint for global seaborne trade, Brawner said, adding, “It’s very important that we ensure that it is free and open, (that) no one country would control it.

“Batanes, located less than 200 kilometers from Taiwan, will remain a site for components of an annual military exercise conducted by the Philippines and the United States, Brawner said.

He hinted that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces may fully take part in the exercise this year once Tokyo ratifies a bilateral defense agreement it signed with Manila last year.

The northernmost province is considered strategically significant in the event of a conflict between China and Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, including by force.

Brawner said the Philippines plans to evacuate Filipinos from Taiwan to Batanes in such a scenario.