Singapore –

As military tensions in the Indo-Pacific run high, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada has called on the international community to ramp up efforts to prevent conflict, with Tokyo proposing a mix of deterrence and dialogue to maintain peace and stability in the region.

“Today, the international community is at a crossroads between ‘conflict and discord’ and ‘cooperation and harmony’... as attempts to unilaterally change the status quo through force and coercion, especially in the maritime domain, are gaining momentum,” said Hamada in a speech Saturday at the Shangri-la Dialogue Asia security summit in Singapore.

“My message is simple and clear: We are not seeking confrontation or conflict,” he said. “By improving deterrence at home and in the region and by encouraging dialogue to resolve differences of interest and opinion, we seek to prevent the kind of conflicts that the region has experienced in the past and maintain a free and open international order based on the rule of law.”

In his speech, Hamada said interstate competition and confrontation have once again emerged as pressing issues, which is why the international community must come together to uphold global principles and common values.

“We need to make every effort to prevent conflicts from occurring in the region,” he said, pointing to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine as a warning to the Indo-Pacific. “If this aggression is accepted or tolerated, unilateral changes to the status quo by force will be accepted or tolerated in other regions as well.”

Hamada said the Ukraine war has resulted in a number of lessons, including the importance of preventing conflicts before they happen, because once aggression occurs, it will certainly lead to a long and protracted battle.

Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, have repeatedly expressed their concerns that “Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow” — a thinly veiled reference to the possibility of a war over self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own.

“If aggression occurs, and the status quo changes, we will lose the prosperity we could have enjoyed, the opportunity for international cooperation on global issues, and above all, the lives of the next generation,” he said, stressing that besides working to discourage unilateral changes to the status quo, is also essential to “avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations by strengthening communication and promoting confidence building through dialogue.”

“The international community must now come together to uphold international principles and common values,” he said.

The other lesson to be drawn from the Ukraine war is the importance of a free and open rules-based order at sea, Hamada said, pointing to the global energy and food crises triggered by Russia's blockade of the Black Sea and its attacks on Odesa and other Ukrainian ports.

The reason is that the sea routes are the “arteries that support the world” and these routes are also being challenged in the Indo-Pacific, he said.

There is widespread distrust and growing concern about attempts to unilaterally change the status quo through force and coercion, Hamada said, arguing that the freedom of the seas is being challenged by what he described as the “normalization of coercive military activities,” including the launch of ballistic missiles, repeated incursions by foreign vessels into territorial waters and the apparent intentional damage of undersea cables.

Last year, China launched for the first time ever ballistic missiles into waters near Japan’s Nansei Islands during large-scale military exercises around Taiwan. The country has also faced criticism over its moves near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by Beijing, where they are known as the Diaoyu.

Although he did not single out Beijing, Hamada said these attempts at coercion were especially noticeable in the East and South China Seas, where some nations continue to make “claims that are incompatible with the existing international order.”

The minister also pointed to the growing use of economic coercion as well as “nontransparent and unfair” development finance to exert political influence on coastal countries bordering key sea routes.

In this regard, Hamada said that last year’s revisions of Japan’s three security documents — the National Security Strategy (NSS), National Defense Strategy and National Defense Buildup Plan — are meant to cope with the increasingly severe security environment.

Under its new defense posture, Tokyo plans to not only allocate about ¥43 trillion ($315 billion) for defense spending over five years from this fiscal year, it also aims to acquire long-range weapons as well as better cyber and space-defense capabilities while expanding Japan’s role within the U.S. alliance. A top priority mentioned in the security documents is the reinforcement of defense capabilities on and around the Nansei chain, which would be uniquely exposed in a conflict with China.

Hamada said that the “drastic strengthening” of Japan's defense capabilities is to be carried out within the bounds of international law and under the principle of “exclusive defense,” as Japan does not aim to have defense forces that pose a threat to other countries,” he added.

He reiterated that the Defense Ministry will strengthen cooperation with allies and “like-minded countries,” keeping in mind the possibility of contingencies.

Stressing that diplomatic efforts should always be pursued first, Hamada said that Tokyo aims to not only strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance, but also actively support those of regional partners by promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation in various fields — a reference to Japan’s new Official Security Assistance (OSA) program.

In April, Tokyo unveiled OSA guidelines to strengthen the militaries of like-minded countries — a move that breaks with its previous policy of avoiding the use of development aid for military purposes other than disaster relief.

First announced in last December’s revised NSS, the new OSA framework will initially provide equipment, supplies and infrastructure development assistance to partner countries in the form of grants, rather than loans, in a bid to reinforce what Tokyo describes as the region’s “comprehensive defense architecture.”

“We believe that unity will deter attempts to change the status quo unilaterally through force and coercion and encourage countries that present challenges to regional stability to pursue peaceful solutions,” Hamada said.

At the same time, he said Tokyo will promote communication and confidence-building measures, including with countries that “present challenges to regional stability.”

“In an unstable security environment full of concerns and distrust, constant communication is essential to avoid unforeseen situations,” he said, noting that this is why Japan and China recently began operating a new military hotline. The move is part of a broader bilateral communication mechanism to prevent accidental clashes at sea or in the air.

Arguing that the world is “in the midst of a major turning point in its history,” Hamada urged the international community “not to stand still.”

“We must create an era in which the year 2023 can be said to have been a turning point toward a world of "cooperation and harmony," and hand it down to future generations.