PH military to set up ‘one-theater’ approach in East, South China seas

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro gestures as he answers questions during an interview with the Associated Press at the Department of National Defense headquarters in Quezon City on March 5, 2025. — Photo by Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines —  Military leaders are working to enforce a “one-theater” concept in both the East and South China seas, the Philippines’ defense minister said on Monday, adding that the Southeast Asian country faces threats in disputed waters that are similar to Japan’s.

Japanese newspaper Asahi reported in April that Japanese defence minister Gen Nakatani made a proposal to US Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth to consider the East China Sea, the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula and surrounding areas as a single “theater,” referring to a military area of operation.

Gilberto Teodoro, the Philippines’ Secretary of National Defense, said it was “reasonable” to treat both the East and South China seas as a single area of operation, saying both are maritime areas with no land borders involved. However, he said the area should exclude the Korean Peninsula.

READ: Teodoro on US-proposed Subic ammo plant: It’s ‘definitely encouraged’

“That will involve synergy in operations, synergy in domain awareness, in intelligence exchange, and in mutually reinforcing our strengths to work doubly real-time,” he said at a briefing during the visit of his Lithuanian counterpart Dovile Sakaliene.

Japan and China have repeatedly faced off over uninhabited Japanese-administered islands in the East China Sea that Tokyo calls the Senkaku and Beijing calls the Diaoyu.

The Philippines and China, meanwhile, have clashed frequently in the South China Sea around disputed shoals and atolls that fall inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone.

China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Japan’s Joint Operations Command is operationalizing the single-theater concept, and the “squad” grouping that includes the defense ministers of Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the United States will establish a coordinating centre in December to enforce it, Teodoro said.

“So it is already an operating concept. It does not need any other agreement,” Teodoro said.

Japan and the Philippines last year signed a military agreement that could allow their soldiers on each other’s soil.

Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Philippines has extended its arc of alliances beyond the United States, its traditional ally, signing defense deals with Japan and New Zealand, and negotiating for similar agreements with Canada and France.

On Monday, the Philippines and Lithuania signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen defense cooperation in areas like cyber security, maritime security and munitions production.

“The interesting thing is that we’re facing absolutely similar threats and our hostile neighbours are using absolutely similar approach,” Lithuanian defense minister Dovile Sakaliene said in the joint briefing with Teodoro. /das