日本在北菲律宾北部Ilocos Norte向菲律宾派遣1,400名战斗部队参加Balikatan演习，标志著自第二次世界大战以来首次向菲律宾派遣战斗部队，也象征东京在展现军力上的更大转向。此次演习由美国与澳大利亚等七个国家共同参与，投入超过17,000名部队，日本成为仅次于两国的第三大阵容，并首次在Balikatan中以战斗角色参战。在实弹环节，日本的Type-88反舰导弹在击中目标后17分钟将目标船击沉。
这一转向紧随Sanae Takaichi于2025年上台后的轨迹。她提出如果中国试图以军事方式占领Taiwan，日方可出兵的主张，与北京指称日本新军国主义“neomilitarism”的指控形成鲜明讯号。东京亦放宽了大多数武器出口限制，并暗示放松“非核三原则”。演习内容涵盖海上打击、两栖作战与导弹防御等与Taiwan情境高度相关的领域，分析人士认为这提高了日本的战斗战备。
安全官员和分析人士认为，在美国仍须在中东等地持续投入时，Balikatan是对北京的威慑讯号。菲律宾于2024年将防御优先序由内部反叛转向外部防卫，且Ferdinand Marcos Jr.扩大美军进入菲律宾基地，使马尼拉成为华盛顿区域架构的核心节点。日本此次派出两艘两栖舰与一艘驱逐舰，并配合战机与反舰系统，也反映与非美防务伙伴更深的实战互通性；同时北京持续指责日本在重启军国主义，南海则持续出现水炮和擦碰等海警冲突。
Japan’s dispatch of 1,400 combat troops to the northern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte for the Balikatan exercises marked the first combat deployment to the Philippines since World War II and a broader shift in Tokyo’s force-projection posture. The exercise, involving seven nations and more than 17,000 troops, joined the United States and Australia, making Japan the third-largest contingent and placing Japanese forces in a combat role for the first time in Balikatan. In a live-fire phase, a Type-88 anti-ship missile sank a target vessel 17 minutes after impact.
The shift follows Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s rise to power in 2025 and a firmer stance toward Beijing. Her statement that Japan could deploy forces if China attempts to seize Taiwan by military force drew Beijing criticism of Japanese “neomilitarism.” Tokyo has also lifted most military-hardware export limits and signaled a softening of non-nuclear principles. Balikatan’s mix of maritime strike, amphibious operations, and missile defense has been identified as directly relevant to Taiwan-contingency readiness, a point emphasized by analysts as evidence of stronger Japanese combat capability.
Security observers see Balikatan as a deterrence signal to Beijing while the United States remains committed to other regions, including the Middle East. The Philippines’ 2024 defense-policy shift to prioritize external defense, combined with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s expanded U.S. base access, has moved Manila into a central position in U.S.-led regional balancing. Japan’s contribution this year—two amphibious ships, a destroyer, aircraft, anti-ship missiles, and air-and-missile defense systems—also showed deeper interoperability with non-U.S. partners, even as China says the policy shift revives militarism and maritime tensions continue in the South China Sea through reported ramming and water-cannon incidents.