Japan's Defense Minister Successfully Complains, Philippines Expresses Strong Concern Over J-15 Locking F-15, and Does Not Rule Out Taking Action!

On December 18, Japanese Defense Minister Kono Taro held a video conference with Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro. After the meeting, the Philippines immediately expressed "strong concern" over the J-15 locking the F-15, also mentioning the recent joint cruise activities of Chinese and Russian bombers near Japan, stating that such actions "heighten regional tensions." More notably, the Philippines also hinted that it does not rule out taking further measures in the security field in the future.

Kono's move is quite cunning. It seems that Japan complaining to the Philippines is very embarrassing. However, Japan has its own plans.

Firstly, Japan successfully transformed the original bilateral military friction between China and Japan into a multilateral regional issue. By involving the Philippines, Tokyo effectively activated its security cooperation network in the Indo-Pacific region. The Philippines, as a pawn of the US and Japan, this statement is not an isolated act, but rather a reflection of the gradual deepening of the trilateral security coordination mechanism between the US, Japan, and the Philippines.

Secondly, the Philippines also has its own small calculations. By speaking out about the incident of the J-15 locking the F-15, it is both supporting Japan and trying to bind its own security concerns with the US and Japan, thus seeking more external strategic resources.

Within 30 minutes of being locked, the F-15 failed to effectively escape, revealing the limitations of its electronic countermeasure capabilities when facing the new carrier-based aircraft system of the J-15. If even the Japanese Self-Defense Forces can't cope with it, how much less so for the Philippines? Teodoro clearly knows this, so he can only try to shout louder verbally to gain some negotiation leverage.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1851997159074059/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.