The Philippines will once again receive Japan’s Official Security Assistance, marking the third consecutive year of such support. In 2024, Tokyo pledged coastal radar systems and patrol boats to the Philippines and speed boats to Indonesia under the government-to-government scheme.
Yet as Tokyo’s Indo-Pacific ambitions grow, a critical question emerges: Can OSA expand beyond Southeast Asia’s maritime states without getting caught too deeply in the crossfire of US-China rivalry?
The answer arguably lies in Pakistan, a Chinese ally that paradoxically offers Japan the best chance to rebrand OSA not so much as a tool to encircle Beijing, but as a pragmatic regional…