Japan Selects Four Asia-Pacific Nations For New Military Assistance Scheme
Japan’s government announced on Wednesday that it had selected four Asia-Pacific nations as recipients for a new military grant assistance framework.
Malaysia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Fiji have been selected as the first four nations to receive military aid under Japan’s new Official Security Assistance framework. Kyodo News quotes Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno as saying that the aid would “create a favorable security environment” by building the recipient nations’ deterrent capabilities, helping to deter unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.
The new policy, which will aid the countries in fields not covered by official development assistance, was described by Tokyo’s top government spokesperson as an “essential” complement to development and investment programs in Japanese defense capabilities in a Wednesday press conference. Matsuno said that the scheme would “secure international peace and stability” through enhancing the deterrence capabilities of nations sharing values like the rule of law with Japan.
According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, military aid supplied under the program will build recipient nations’ capabilities in maritime and aerial surveillance, disaster response and other forms of humanitarian assistance, as well as activities related to United Nations peacekeeping operations. Officials quoted by Kyodo say that the details of the aid are still being worked on, and will be finalized in a “few months”.
Aid provided under Official Security Assistance is expected to remain within the limits of Japan’s three principles on transfer of defense equipment and technology, which prohibits military exports to nations under Japanese or United Nations sanctions, as well as nations currently at war. While the principles provide room for exemptions, they call for stringent oversight and disclosures from Tokyo for each such exemption.
The Philippines in particular has previously received several batches of military aid from Japan, and more recently ordered four air surveillance radars from Mitsubishi Electric, the first major export of Japanese military equipment since the ending of a de facto self-imposed ban on exports. In October 2022, Mitsubishi Electric announced that the first radar manufactured for the order had been completed following pre-export inspections.