Japan and Southeast Asian Security - China, ASEAN, Philippines and Vietnam, Japanese Self Defense Forces (JSDF), Cooperation for Peace in Mindanao, JBIRD Japan-Bangsamoro Initiative for Reconstruction

This report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. This study addresses why Japan has increased its security cooperation with Southeast Asian institutions and states. It also explores how Japan has increased cooperation in the region. In this analysis, the author uses data from port visits, exercises, joint statements and security cooperation trends from the 1990s through 2018. This study concludes that Japan is increasing its cooperation with ASEAN, the Philippines, and Vietnam because it is trying to protect its sea lines of communication, to garner support to condemn North Korean actions, and to gain a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Following the end of the Cold War, Japan began to increase cooperation with Southeast Asian states and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its related forums and dialogues. In the 1990s, Japanese cooperation focused on anti-piracy initiatives. Later, Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR) operations and cooperation on non-traditional security threats became accepted areas of collaboration. There were no exchanges or donations of hardware, and many drills were focused on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs). However, recent history indicates a break from former security practices. In 2014, Japan agreed to donate maritime patrol craft to the Philippines and Vietnam, providing greater maritime capacity for both these states. Japan also leased TC-90 training aircraft to the Philippines and provided training to Filipino pilots. Japan also deployed ships to the region to improve cooperation with countries there through a ship-riding program. During the summer of 2017, the helicopter destroyer JS Izumo deployed and worked with the U.S. and Australian Navies in the South China Sea. In August of 2018, Japan deployed another helicopter destroyer, the JS Kaga and two escorting destroyers, the JS Inazuma and the JS Suzutsuki for a two-month exercise. This trip included port calls to the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India and was intended to promote interoperability between these countries and Japan. In addition to military-to-military exercises, in 2014, Japan lifted a self-imposed ban on selling weapons, and began to allow for arms transfers with other countries. In 2018, Japan signed an arms transfer agreement with Malaysia, though as of this writing, no defense contracts were complete. Japanese defense contractors also brought in representatives from several Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines to an arms show outside of Tokyo. The intent was to prove that Japan willing to establish defense contracts with states in the region.