By Chun Han Wong
As Southeast Asia scrambles to cope with China's assertiveness in maritime disputes, Japanese leaders are offering themselves to the region as a strategic counterweight to Beijing.
Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera became the latest senior Japanese official to call for greater cooperation between Japanese and Southeast Asian militaries, particularly in areas like humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief operations.
"Our efforts are not limited to the military domain, but also cover the area of maritime navigation safety," Mr. Onodera told the Dialogue. "We intend to actively promote our equipment and technology cooperation with other countries, particularly Asean member states in non-traditional security fields."
His comments came a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo would provide "utmost support" to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in maintaining regional security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea-the scene of bitter territorial disputes and an ongoing standoff between Beijing and Hanoi over a Chinese oil rig deployed in waters claimed by both countries.
Mr. Abe, who took office for a second time in 2012, visited all 10 Asean members last year, pledging greater economic investment and security commitments in the region. On Friday, the prime minister said Tokyo is preparing to supply Vietnam with maritime patrol vessels, following plans to give 10 such craft to the Philippines and completed deliveries of three patrol boats to Indonesia.
"Prime Minister Abe is seizing the day, taking advantage of the huge opportunities that China has afforded him through its assertive behavior and has heightened Japan's profile on the world stage," said Thomas Berger, professor of international relations at Boston University.
"His remarks will undoubtedly find a receptive audience," Mr. Berger said. "Increasingly, the front-line states in these territorial disputes-Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam-are working together to counter China's growing power."
The Abe government's efforts, part of Japan's push for a greater defense role in Asia, has been welcomed by the U.S. and other regional allies like the Philippines. China, however, remained unimpressed by what it sees as Japan's remilitarization-underscored by Mr. Abe's desire to remove decades-old constitutional limitations on the pacifist nation's armed forces.
Speaking on Friday before Mr. Abe's speech, Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Chinese legislature's foreign-affairs committee, accused the Japanese leader of engineering a crisis over disputed islands so as to create a "myth...that China as a country is posing a threat to Japan as a country."
Separately Friday, a Chinese military official questioned Mr. Abe's attitudes toward Japan's past military aggression, by referring to the prime minister's visit last year to the Yasukuni Shrine-a religious site that honors Japanese military dead, including a number of war criminals executed after World War II.
Southeast Asian countries, despite their own bitter memories of Japanese wartime aggression, have so far shown less wariness over a more assertive modern Japan, whose pacifist constitution-drafted in 1947 by Allied occupation forces-renounces the right to wage war and curbs its ability to support allies during armed conflict. While some regional leaders have questioned Mr. Abe over his views on Japan's militaristic past, typically they haven't done so as vehemently as their counterparts in China and South Korea, though that could change if Japan finds ways to become more assertive in the region.
Even so, some Asean countries have appeared cautious about taking sides in the China-Japan rivalry, appealing instead for more multilateral cooperation between Southeast Asia and major external powers.
Asean should "work together towards establishing a common policy position on important issues, such as maritime security and our relations with major powers," Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday. "Major powers must sincerely understand us."
More at The Wall Street Journal's Southeast Asia Realtime blog, http://ift.tt/16bH6aE
As Southeast Asia scrambles to cope with China's assertiveness in maritime disputes, Japanese leaders are offering themselves to the region as a strategic counterweight to Beijing.
Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera became the latest senior Japanese official to call for greater cooperation between Japanese and Southeast Asian militaries, particularly in areas like humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief operations.
"Our efforts are not limited to the military domain, but also cover the area of maritime navigation safety," Mr. Onodera told the Dialogue. "We intend to actively promote our equipment and technology cooperation with other countries, particularly Asean member states in non-traditional security fields."
His comments came a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo would provide "utmost support" to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in maintaining regional security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea-the scene of bitter territorial disputes and an ongoing standoff between Beijing and Hanoi over a Chinese oil rig deployed in waters claimed by both countries.
Mr. Abe, who took office for a second time in 2012, visited all 10 Asean members last year, pledging greater economic investment and security commitments in the region. On Friday, the prime minister said Tokyo is preparing to supply Vietnam with maritime patrol vessels, following plans to give 10 such craft to the Philippines and completed deliveries of three patrol boats to Indonesia.
"Prime Minister Abe is seizing the day, taking advantage of the huge opportunities that China has afforded him through its assertive behavior and has heightened Japan's profile on the world stage," said Thomas Berger, professor of international relations at Boston University.
"His remarks will undoubtedly find a receptive audience," Mr. Berger said. "Increasingly, the front-line states in these territorial disputes-Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam-are working together to counter China's growing power."
The Abe government's efforts, part of Japan's push for a greater defense role in Asia, has been welcomed by the U.S. and other regional allies like the Philippines. China, however, remained unimpressed by what it sees as Japan's remilitarization-underscored by Mr. Abe's desire to remove decades-old constitutional limitations on the pacifist nation's armed forces.
Speaking on Friday before Mr. Abe's speech, Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Chinese legislature's foreign-affairs committee, accused the Japanese leader of engineering a crisis over disputed islands so as to create a "myth...that China as a country is posing a threat to Japan as a country."
Separately Friday, a Chinese military official questioned Mr. Abe's attitudes toward Japan's past military aggression, by referring to the prime minister's visit last year to the Yasukuni Shrine-a religious site that honors Japanese military dead, including a number of war criminals executed after World War II.
Southeast Asian countries, despite their own bitter memories of Japanese wartime aggression, have so far shown less wariness over a more assertive modern Japan, whose pacifist constitution-drafted in 1947 by Allied occupation forces-renounces the right to wage war and curbs its ability to support allies during armed conflict. While some regional leaders have questioned Mr. Abe over his views on Japan's militaristic past, typically they haven't done so as vehemently as their counterparts in China and South Korea, though that could change if Japan finds ways to become more assertive in the region.
Even so, some Asean countries have appeared cautious about taking sides in the China-Japan rivalry, appealing instead for more multilateral cooperation between Southeast Asia and major external powers.
Asean should "work together towards establishing a common policy position on important issues, such as maritime security and our relations with major powers," Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday. "Major powers must sincerely understand us."
More at The Wall Street Journal's Southeast Asia Realtime blog, http://ift.tt/16bH6aE
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