Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed today that his country would play a larger role in promoting peace in Asia, and called for the rule of law to be upheld in the region.
Laying out a vision of Tokyo as a counterweight to the growing might of China, Abe offered Japan's help to regional partners "to ensure security of the seas and skies".
He said Japan and the United States stood ready to bolster security cooperation with Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"Japan intends to play an even greater and more proactive role than it has until now in making peace in Asia and the world something more certain," he said in a keynote speech at an annual Asia security forum in Singapore.
Abe said Japan will provide 10 new coast guard patrol ships to Philippines, which has one of Asia's most poorly equipped security forces.
He said three such vessels have already been provided to Indonesia and Vietnam may receive similar assistance.
Abe delivered his speech as tensions simmer over territorial disputes, involving China and some Southeast Asian states in the South China Sea as well as between Tokyo and Beijing in the East China Sea.
Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, even waters approaching the shores of neighbouring countries, and has become more aggressive in enforcing what it says are its historical rights.
In the latest tensions, Vietnam yesterday accused Chinese war ships of pointing their weapons at Vietnamese vessels during an escalating standoff near an oil rig in contested waters in the South China Sea.
The Philippines has also faced increasingly tense disputes with China for control of islets and reefs in the sea.
In one high-profile incident in 2012, the Philippines lost control of a rich fishing ground 220 kilometres (135 miles) off its main island to China after a standoff.
China is also in dispute with Japan over islands in the East Sea, which Tokyo calls Senkaku and Beijing refers to as Diaoyu. Tokyo has control over the outcrops.
