 Japan and the Philippines signed a key defense pact earlier today, allowing the deployment of Japanese forces for joint military exercises, including live fire drills, to the Southeast Asian nation that came under brutal Japanese occupation in World War II, but is now building an alliance with Tokyo as they face an increasingly assertive China. The, quote, reciprocal access agreement, which similarly allows Filipino forces to enter Japan for joint combat training, was signed by, and it goes on to talk about it,