Countries & Regions
Japan-U.S.-Philippines Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
July 10, 2025
On July 10 (July 10, JST), commencing at 19:15 for approximately 30 minutes Mr. IWAYA Takeshi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, who is visiting Malaysia, held a Foreign Ministers’ Meeting with the Honorable Marco Rubio, Secretary of State of the United States of America and the Honorable Maria Theresa Lazaro, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Republic of the Philippines. The overview of the meeting is as follows.
- At the outset, Minister Iwaya and Secretary Rubio congratulated Secretary Lazaro on her appointment. Ministers also shared the view that it is very significant to be able to hold the first- Japan-US-Philippines Foreign Ministers’ Meeting with these three Ministers.
- The three Ministers recalled that the momentum of Japan-US-Philippines cooperation has continued and strengthened in recent years, including the joint training exercise between the three countries’ coast guards in Kagoshima in June this year, and welcomed the fact that the Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held without losing this momentum.
- The three Ministers exchanged views on the recent situation in the East and South China Seas, taking into account that July 12 marked nine years since the issuance of the South China Sea Arbitral Award, and reiterated their opposition to attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force and coercion, and confirmed the importance of respecting the rule of law, and underscored the need to uphold freedom of navigation. In addition, Secretary Lazaro expressed her willingness to host the Japan-US-Philippines Maritime Dialogue by autumn of this year, which was welcomed.
- The three Ministers confirmed that advancing resilience of infrastructure, information and communications, and supply chains of resources including critical minerals through cooperation on the Luzon Economic Corridor and further collaboration also in the field of cyber and civil nuclear energy will lead to cooperation in the security field. The three Ministers then agreed to follow up and elaborate cooperation in these areas among the three countries.