Closer Cooperation Between US and Japan Urgent To Stabilize Asian Seas

Owing to China’s unruly behavior in its neighboring seas, the Asian seas are tumbling. Against this backdrop, an Asian security forum took place in Singapore. Japan and the U.S. squared off bitterly with China. Some reflection on the discussion would help throw into some sort of relief the role that Japan ought to play in the future.

Spanning from May 30 to Jan. 1, the forum’s participants included Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera from Japan, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel from the U.S., and other defense ministers from the region. From China, Lieutenant General Wang Guanzhong attended.

One accomplishment is that the U.S. and Japan have shown a united front in agreeing that China’s attempt to overthrow the status quo is reprehensible.

China has pushed through with its oil exploration in the South China Sea, putting itself at loggerheads with Vietnam, in addition to installing an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea.

Secretary Hagel stressed the unacceptability of China’s action, lambasting it by name. Mr. Abe, while loath to display that kind of bluntness of tone, tried to put a damper on China’s aggression and proclaimed that he would work hard to strengthen maritime security cooperation among countries in Southeast Asia.

Some Southeast Asian countries have been concerned that the U.S. might not involve itself very deeply in the matter of security in the region. That makes it all the more significant that the U.S. and Japan have confirmed their positive future role in such matters in the South China Sea.

However, it is important to be reminded here that soothing rhetoric like that must be accompanied by concrete measures to have any effect. Mr. Abe announced that Japan would supply Vietnam, as well as countries such as the Philippines, with reconnaissance vessels. I would hope that he will initiate other measures that would produce more results in synergy with U.S. cooperation.

For instance, one idea would be to help the countries in the region revamp their sea and airports, in cooperation with the U.S., so that America’s large-size warships and airplanes may patrol the area more easily.

What requires our prudence is that the region is not necessarily monolithic. For example, within the very same region, we have Laos and Cambodia —China’s allies — and Thailand and Singapore, with a population of ethnic Chinese.

It is ever more necessary for the U.S. and Japan to be involved in the region’s affairs, but we need to avoid dragging Southeast Asia in the strife, as the U.S. and Japan battle it out with China. Each country’s words and action need to be judiciously weighed.

The U.S. and Japan need to not only stop China’s truculence but also encourage diplomacy in trying to alleviate the tension. A framework is especially exigent whereby we can avoid future conflicts through mutual communication in the most serious of cases. I sincerely hope for Mr. Abe’s action on this front, as well.