Defense and security cooperation is set to play an increasingly important role in relations between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations amid growing regional tensions over territorial and maritime spats with China.
That’s one of the key takeaways of a Japan-ASEAN leaders summit held in Tokyo over the weekend, which saw the comprehensive strategic partners lay out a “new vision” for bilateral ties and launch a range of cooperation initiatives in the diplomatic, security, economic, cultural and social fields.
At the summit commemorating 50 years of bilateral relations, Tokyo and the 10-member bloc agreed to deepen security ties in areas such as capacity building, defense equipment and technology, as well as joint training and exercises, according to a statement issued Sunday.
‘Mutually beneficial’ cooperation
The move highlights the changing dynamic of Japan-ASEAN ties as the partners aim to both increase mutual trust and future-proof their partnership amid an array of shared challenges and objectives.
While Tokyo was initially a source of economic aid and investments for Southeast Asia, relations have become increasingly balanced and mutually beneficial in recent decades, particularly given the region’s rapid economic growth, with Japan now more often seen as a critical partner for strengthening regional security.
As Beijing becomes more assertive and expands its regional footprint, Japan has grown wary of the shifting balance of power. This has prompted Tokyo to gradually boost security assistance to ASEAN countries in a bid to bolster regional autonomy while increasing their capacity to resist external pressures and retain a range of geopolitical choices.
This serves three key purposes, according to Collins Chong Yew Keat, a foreign affairs and security strategist at Malaysia’s Universiti Malaya. The first is to try and deter Chinese aggression by bolstering the maritime capabilities of countries in the region. The second is to help secure trade routes that are critical to Japan, and the third is to expand Tokyo’s connections and soft power with the so-called Global South developing nations.
“Japan has realized that governments in Southeast Asia are in need of a strong third force they can trust as they seek to avoid being sucked into the endless abyss of the China-U.S. rivalry,” said Chong.
Malaysia joins OSA
This diplomatic push has seen a number of concrete results.
For instance, Japanese security assistance, initially meant for coast guards and law enforcement agencies, was recently expanded to also cover the region’s armed forces after Tokyo in April launched its official security assistance (OSA) military aid program.
The first two beneficiaries will be the Philippines and Bangladesh, with Malaysia now set to be the third OSA recipient, a decision that was announced during a meeting Saturday between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Malaysian counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim.
According to the deal, Tokyo will provide Kuala Lumpur with ¥400 million ($2.81 million) in grants to acquire rescue boats and other equipment.
While the OSA amount is modest, it does come with a symbolic message from long-pacifist Japan, highlighting Tokyo’s determination to defend its regional interests by empowering these nations to push back against Beijing’s "gray-zone" operations.
Experts say that Tokyo’s move with Kuala Lumpur was long overdue, given the importance of Malaysia’s strategic location for Japan’s economic security.
As a coastal state with territorial seas in the Strait of Malacca — the world’s second-largest oil trade chokepoint after the Strait of Hormuz — and an exclusive economic zone that stretches into the South China Sea, Malaysia’s ability to effectively govern its maritime areas is seen as critical to Japan’s economic success.
With key underwater cables and most of Japan’s imported resources, including energy and minerals, passing through waters where Malaysia has duties and responsibilities, Kuala Lumpur’s ability to keep these sea lines open will remain critical for Tokyo not only in peacetime but also in the event of conflict.
“Japan wants to build up Malaysia's nascent maritime capabilities so that it can withstand Chinese bullying in the South China Sea,” said Zachary Abuza, a professor at the U.S. National War College.
Despite the limited OSA funds, the new assets will help Malaysia close a gap in its maritime security capabilities.
“The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency is quite professional, but they are small and have a very limited budget,” Abuza said, adding that the agency has been largely focused on counterterrorism operations instead of pushing back against Beijing, despite a near constant Chinese coast guard presence in Malaysian-claimed waters near the Luconia Shoals.
The overall aim, said Ian Chong, a professor of political science at the National University of Singapore (NUS), is not necessarily to pull Malaysia closer to Tokyo but to maintain a positive relationship while providing Kuala Lumpur with options, “so it does not become overly dependent on any one relationship.”
China is ASEAN’s top trading partner and has particularly close economic ties with Malaysia.
Critical markets
To make sure OSA is spread as widely as possible, Tokyo on Monday also signed a deal with Fiji, providing the Pacific island nation with ¥400 million in grants to acquire patrol boats and related equipment for its navy.
In addition, Tokyo is reportedly considering expanding both the funding and scope of the program next year to include Vietnam and Indonesia, as well as Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and Djibouti, the last of which hosts a Self-Defense Forces base.
“Most of the states prioritized for OSA are those located along critical sea lanes that extend from Japan through the Indo-Pacific to markets in the Middle East, Europe and Africa,” said John Bradford, an Indonesia-based international security expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.
In this context, OSA should be understood as “the next step along Tokyo’s long-standing trajectory toward providing its maritime partners with increasingly sophisticated security capabilities,” he said.
At the same time, experts such as NUS' Chong view OSA as Tokyo’s recognition of the need to do more to protect the country’s interests, both “on its own as well as in conjunction with its security ally, the United States.”
The summit took place at a potentially critical moment for Japanese security assistance, with the Kishida administration considering proposals to revise the country’s guidelines on defense equipment and technology transfers. Local media has reported that a decision could be made before the end of the year.
Japan’s strict defense export guidelines have so far limited OSA and other forms of security assistance to nonlethal assets and technologies such as patrol vessels and surveillance radars.
Tokyo as a viable ‘alternative’
Yet despite Tokyo’s efforts, some experts believe that Beijing is unlikely to shift its behavior, particularly regarding maritime disputes, as this would also require more direct, collective resistance by claimant states.
They also don’t think that it will be enough to pull the entire bloc, which has traditionally sought to avoid taking sides — with notable exceptions — closer to the Western-aligned world.
This means that individual bloc members will seek similar arrangements with China, not only for the additional economic benefits but also to balance out relations and alleviate Beijing’s concerns that ASEAN may be moving into a rival camp.
The latest ASEAN country to do this is Vietnam. Despite having recently upgraded ties with both Washington and Tokyo, Hanoi also strengthened economic and security relations with China in a summit last week before the Japan-ASEAN gathering.
It is unclear, however, how long Southeast Asian countries will be capable of balancing relations with both China and the U.S. as the geopolitical rivalry between the superpowers intensifies.
In this context, said Chong from Universiti Malaya, Tokyo's role as both “a viable economic and security alternative remains critical for Southeast Asia.”
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