The Philippines and Japan are set to convene the second 2+2 foreign and defense ministerial meeting next month, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced Friday.

In a statement, the DFA said Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamikawa Yoko and Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru will undertake an official visit to Manila to meet with their counterparts Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on 8 July.

“The four ministers are expected to discuss bilateral and defense and security issues affecting the region, and exchange views on regional and international issues,” the agency said.

During the visit, Manalo and Teodoro are expected to hold separate bilateral meetings with their counterparts to discuss areas of mutual concern.

The scheduled meeting comes on the heels of the escalating tension between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea.

Like Manila, Tokyo has overlapping territorial claims with Beijing in the East China Sea, particularly in the Senkaku Islands, which have long been a sticking point in the relations between the two nations.

Manila and Beijing both claim the West Philippine Sea, which is part of the larger South China Sea.

However, the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands cemented Manila’s claims in the West Philippine Sea, rejecting China’s nine-dash line claim.

China has continued to reject the arbitral ruling and stood by its historic rights over the area.

According to the DFA, the 2+2 foreign and defense ministers meeting is the “highest consultative mechanism” between Manila and Tokyo to date.

“It is a platform to further strengthen the decade-old Strategic Partnership of the Philippines and Japan,” it said.

Japan hosted the inaugural 2+2 meeting in Tokyo two years ago.

Manila and Tokyo are currently in the negotiating process for the proposed Reciprocal Access Agreement, which would allow the transfer of defense personnel between the two countries for training and disaster relief operations.