Nippon's Defense Ministry, led by Minoru Kihara, has officially announced that the first patrol operations in the South China Sea will begin by 2024. The mission will be carried out jointly by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces (JMDSF) together with the US and Philippine navies.

The joint patrol plan was strongly supported by the new Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos junior, who took office in 2022. The politician had in fact won the electoral contest by promising a foreign policy opposite to the pro-Chinese one of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.

The joint objective of the governments of Manila, Washington and Tokyo is to "counter China's aggressive behavior in the Pacific", and contain cases of intimidation and boarding of Philippine and Japanese fishing vessels by the maritime units of the Beijing Coast Guard.