Japan and the Philippines have agreed to further deepen their defense collaborations and start talks on an arrangement to protect shared military information in the face of mutual alarm over China's increasing aggressive actions in the region.

An "increasingly severe" security environment has made deepening security ties with the Philippines a necessity, Japan's defence chief said Monday after a meeting with his counterpart in Manila. "Secretary (Gilberto) Teodoro Jr and I firmly concurred that the security environment surrounding us is becoming increasingly severe and it is