Japan’s defence minister is touring Southeast Asia this week with what analysts describe as a clear, if diplomatically understated, mission: turning Indonesia and the Philippines into harder targets for Chinese maritime ambition.
Shinjiro Koizumi landed in Jakarta on Monday to sign a defence cooperation pact with his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, coming hot on the heels of Tokyo’s landmark decision to lift a decades-old ban on the export of lethal weapons last month.
Japan’s policy reversal on arms exports now permits weapons transfers to 17 defence partners, in a substantial break from its post-World War II pacifist doctrine.
Empowering Southeast Asian states will raise their diplomatic bargaining power vis-a-vis China
Yoichiro Sato, security analyst
Observers say Koizumi’s itinerary leaves little ambiguity about whom the shift is designed to deter.