Building up Japan’s defense capacity as part of the re-militarization process under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, was foremost in a multi-nation tour this week she undertook with Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting Southeast Asian nations. They signed defense and economic agreements, in keeping with U.S. and Japanese efforts to encircle China and prepare for war. Takaichi visited Vietnam and Australia, returning to Tokyo Tuesday, while Koizumi visited Indonesia, and will go after that to the Philippines. In addition, Japan has announced a $10 billion plan to help Asian countries to purchase oil, mostly from the United States, to counter the cut-off of Gulf oil.
In Vietnam, Takaichi signed six agreements on issues ranging from infrastructure to agriculture to space cooperation. “The two sides identified economic security as a new priority area for bilateral cooperation,” Takaichi told reporters after the meeting. Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung said the two leaders also “reaffirmed the importance of resolving disputes in the South China Sea through peaceful means based on international law.” Reuters reported that “Japan and Vietnam share concerns about China’s territorial claims in the East and South China Seas, and both have sought to hedge against United States-driven trade disruptions by broadening economic and security ties.”
In fact, Vietnam has generally resolved issues over the South China Sea with China, while Japan is expanding its military capacities in the region, and issuing threats to China over Taiwan.
In Australia, Takaichi met May 4 with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, “concluding agreements on boosting economic and energy security ties, as well as defense, critical minerals and cyber partnerships. She said in a briefing alongside the Australian prime minister that China was among regional topics they discussed,” as reported in Bloomberg. This follows a defense agreement signed between the two nations last month in which Australia and Japan’s Defense Minister Koizumi signed contracts for the first three of 11 Mogami-class warships to be delivered to the Australian navy under a landmark $7 billion defense deal. The three ships are being built in Japan, and the others in Australia.
