Saturday 11 / January / 2025
Taipei: The Philippines is set to enhance its coastal surveillance capabilities with the installation of Japanese-supplied radars on the Batanes islands, Taiwan News reported.
Located less than 200 kilometres from Taiwan, the radars will play a crucial role in monitoring the Bashi Channel, which separates the Philippines from Taiwan and is a possible destination for Filipinos to be evacuated from Taiwan if China is invaded.
According to Japan's Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr, the radars needed to be set up at all major choke points around the country.
In 2023, Japan granted five radar systems valued at USD 3.8 million (NT USD 126 million) to the Philippines as part of an Official Security Assistance program, as per Taiwan News.
The plan is to boost security cooperation with like-minded allies.
The Chief of Staff highlighted the importance of keeping the Bashi Channel open and free from control by any one country, Taiwan News reported citing CNA.
Brawner also identified Batanes as a possible destination for Filipinos to be evacuated from Taiwan if China invaded.
Meanwhile, the country has been conducting annual military drills with the US in Batanes Province, and Japan may also participate in future exercises.
Notably, the Taiwan-China issue is a complex and longstanding geopolitical conflict centred on Taiwan's sovereignty. Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), operates its own government, military, and economy, functioning as a de facto independent state.
However, China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and insists on the "One China" policy, which asserts that there is only one China, with Beijing as its capital.
This has fuelled decades of tension, especially since the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949), when the ROC government retreated to Taiwan after the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, took control of mainland China.
Beijing has consistently expressed its goal of reunification with Taiwan, using diplomatic, economic, and military pressure to isolate Taiwan internationally. Meanwhile, Taiwan, supported by a significant portion of its population, continues to maintain its independence.
