Asia’s zigzag history takes another sharp turn next week when the leaders of Japan and the Philippines sit down with President Biden for a trilateral summit that until recently would have seemed most unlikely.

The prime minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, and the president of the Philippines, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., will forget about Japan’s defeat of the Americans in the Philippines at the outset of World War II. They’ll focus on the latter-day threat of Communist China claiming the entire South China Sea, including Philippine islets and shoals, and enforcing its claim with water cannon blasts at Philippine vessels.

When all three of them meet at the White House Thursday, the mission of standing up to China will be at the top of an agenda that the White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said would also cover economic development, “clean energy supply chains and climate cooperation.”

The deputy secretary of state, Kurt Campbell, was downright ecstatic as he anticipated “an unprecedented trilateral agreement” in which Japan and the Philippines would see each other as equals, almost allies. The deal, judging from Mr. Campbell’s remarks, is analogous to the three-way relationship forged by Mr. Biden, Mr. Kishida, and President Yoon Suk-yeol at Camp David last August.

Washington also counts on Japanese cooperation as a key member of the Quad, which brings Japan, India, America and Australia in non-military discussion with security overtones. . Yet another alliance, called Aukus, formed in 2021, binds Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. in what’s called “a strategic partnership.”

The trilateral summit takes on military significance but won’t commit Japan to sending its Self-Defense Forces to the Philippines’ defense. Japan cannot send troops to war outside Japan in violation of its “no war” constitution but may provide  the Philippines with much needed weapons, including Mitsubishi FX fighters.

The prospect of a weapons deal between Japan and the Philippines marks the latest step in a steady process of shoring up defenses in Asia against rising Chinese power – and against Russia in the wake of North Korea leader Kim Jong-un providing artillery shells and other armaments for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Mr. Campbell did a delicate diplomatic dance around the issue of Japan exporting weapons. In an allusion to Japan lifting its ban on making weapons on license with foreign companies, he said that “circumstances increasingly demand that we work with trusted allies and partners even on the most sophisticated weapons.” He neglected to mention that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is already manufacturing Patriot missiles for Raytheon and Lockheed-Martin.

Mr. Biden’s meeting with Mr. Kishida, however, won’t be all sweetness and light. On Wednesday, the day before his confab with Mr. Kishida and Mr. Marcos, he is to receive Mr. Kishida for a state visit. They’ll emit noises about the joys of the Japanese-American alliance, but Mr. Biden is also expected to express his objections to Nippon Steel agreeing to purchase U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion.

“The White House has privately informed the Japanese government of the president’s decision,” the Financial Times reports, citing multiple sources.  “The expression of concern will be interpreted as opposition to the takeover,” says the FT, amid “bipartisan backlash in Washington against the sale of a US manufacturing icon to a foreign group.”