Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and new Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. agreed Thursday the two nations will closely cooperate to maintain and reinforce the rules-based maritime order amid China's rise in the Indo-Pacific.Hayashi told an online press conference after a meeting in Manila with Marcos, who took office the same day, that the two countries will also bolster bilateral ties and aim to resume active people-to-people exchanges toward economic recovery in a post-coronavirus pandemic era."It is essential to further beef up relations with the Philippines, our impo…READ FULL ARTICLE
