Japan and Philippines plan to convey to Trump the need for US engagement in Asia

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Japan and the Philippines will convey to President-elect Donald Trump the urgent need for the U.S. to remain committed to help uphold the rule of law in an Asian region where security concerns have become “increasingly severe,” Japan’s top diplomat said Wednesday.

The U.S., Japan and the Philippines have been building an alliance under outgoing President Joe Biden since last year to deal with China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea and East China Sea. Trump’s “America First” foreign policy thrust has triggered concerns about the scale and depth of U.S. commitment to the region under his new term.

"We will approach the next U.S. administration to convey that constructive commitment of the United States in this region is important also for the United States itself,” Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said in a news conference with his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo, in Manila.

Iwaya said he was scheduled to attend Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration as one of Washington’s closest treaty allies in Asia along with the Philippines.

“Amid the increasingly severe strategic environment in the region, Japan places importance on our bilateral cooperation as well as on maintaining and strengthening trilateral cooperation between Japan, the Philippines and the United States,” Iwaya said.

An alarming spike in confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and other forces in the busy sea passage has set off fears of a major escalation that could draw in the United States, which has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to help defend Philippine forces if they come under an armed attack in the South China Sea.

“The issue over the South China Sea is a legitimate concern for the international community because it directly links to the regional peace and stability,” Iwaya said. "Japan strongly opposes any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force or build up tension in the region. We strongly ask for easing of tensions.”

Jonathan Malaya, assistant director-general of the National Security Council in the Philippines, a top government body, said Tuesday that China was “pushing us to the wall” and warned that “all options are on the table” for Manila’s response, including new international lawsuits.

A large Chinese coast guard ship patrolled hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal i n recent days and then sailed toward the northwestern coast of the Philippines on Tuesday, coming as close as 77 nautical miles (143 kilometers), the Philippine coast guard said.

A Chinese official said in Beijing that his country’s sovereignty in the South China Sea is well established and its coast guard patrols are lawful and justified.

The Chinese government has repeatedly accused the Philippines and other rival claimant states including Vietnam and Malaysia of encroaching on what it says are “undisputed” Chinese territorial waters.

Manalo told reporters that the Philippines would raise China’s latest actions in a meeting on Thursday between Chinese and Philippine diplomats in the Chinese city of Xiamen.

The rival claimants have been holding talks, called the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism. for years to prevent the disputes from worsening into a major armed conflict.

Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya looks on during a bilateral meeting with Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo in Taguig City, metro Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie Davidsdv/Pool Photo via AP)

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo speaks with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, unseen, during their bilateral meeting in Taguig City, Philippines Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, left, and Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo attend a joint press conference in Taguig City, Philippines Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, left, and Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo shake hands after a joint press conference in Taguig City, Philippines Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, right, speaks with Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, unseen, during their bilateral meeting in Taguig City, Philippines Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya speaks during a joint press conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo in Taguig City, Philippines Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, left, and Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo prepare to leave following a joint press conference in Taguig City, Philippines Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, right, reacts after a joint press conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Taguig City, Philippines Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya attends a joint press conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo in Taguig City, Philippines Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, left, and Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo shake hands after a joint press conference in Taguig City, Philippines Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nadia Comaneci, Apolo Ohno, Bart Conner and Cullen Jones were among the more than 300 Olympic and Paralympic athletes who gathered Tuesday under the peristyle at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Summer Games will open in 2028.

In an effort to promote Wednesday's registration launch for tickets to the Los Angeles Games, the athletes representing 28 different Olympics dating to 1960 joined Janet Evans in a short countdown to the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron against a clear blue winter sky.

“LA is committed to delivering an athlete-centered games and that can only happen if athletes are actually at the center of our planning,” said Evans, the Olympic champion swimmer who is chief athlete officer for the LA28 organizing committee.

The get-together felt like a homecoming to Ohno, the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian ever with eight short track speedskating medals.

“I walked in and I literally saw like 50 of my friends that I'd grown up in the Olympic training center with for many years,” he said. "I haven't seen some of these people for 10 years or more."

The athletes met with LA28 officials beforehand, with several offering suggestions on how to improve the athlete experience.

“We have the athlete voice in the areas that really need to be heard,” said Jones, the retired swimmer who joined the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last summer as associate director of athlete marketing. “I'm really excited to see what LA28 looks like.”

Conner noted that with the majority of venues already built in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City, which will host softball and canoe slalom, organizers can focus on the competitors. The three-time Olympic gymnast capped his career at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

“The athletes know that they're the center of every decision,” he said. “It's not just like, let's call the athletes and see what they think about it. The athletes are already in all the board meetings. I understood today that there's more athletes involved in leadership here in the Olympic organizing committee than there are at the IOC.”

Nearby, Comaneci twirled for photographers under the peristyle. The Romanian gymnast became a teenage superstar at the 1976 Montreal Games, where she earned the first perfect 10.0 mark in Olympic history. She and Conner will mark their 30th wedding anniversary in April.

Registration opens at 10 a.m. EST on Wednesday at Tickets.LA28.org. It's the first step for a chance to secure a time slot to buy tickets starting in April. After registering, fans will be randomly assigned time slots to buy tickets throughout future ticket releases.

Individual tickets, hospitality packages including tickets and packages involving travel and accommodations will also go on sale later this year.

The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Former Olympians gather for a group photo at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Former Olympian Jane Evans, LA28 Chief Athlete Officer, center right, stands next to Casey Wasserman, LA28 Chairperson and President, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)