Pacific Military Institutionalism
Pacific Military Institutionalism
Pacific digital cable dependency, $500 Million Philippine Inducement, Japan mesmerised by China spell?, Japan militarisation institutionalised, Sth Korean American Pie, Philippine General Position
Cable Dependency
Wong announces new digital cable centre to limit China’s influence in Indo-Pacific
By Amy Remeikis (The Guardian)
Australia is stepping up its attempts to limit China’s influence in the Pacific, with the establishment of a new “cable connectivity and resilience centre” designed to boost connectivity for Pacific nations.
The foreign Minister, Penny Wong, will announce the centre while in Japan for the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting alongside counterparts from the United States, Japan and India.
The centre, to which Australia has committed $18m over the next four years, will provide technical assistance and training across the Indo-Pacific, assist Pacific island governments regulate the undersea cables and “share information and host dialogues” to strengthen engagement between Indo-Pacific governments and industry.
Wong said in a statement the centre is an important demonstration of the Quad’s delivery in the region, “responding to the Indo-Pacific’s most pressing challenges”.
The centre will be staffed by Australian government public servants who will be tasked with providing advice and assistance to individual Pacific nations.
Much has been made by the Quad leaders of the contested nature of the Indo-Pacific, with the four countries united in their agreement China should be denied a stronger foothold in the region. A renewed focus on providing the infrastructure and assistance Pacific nations need has been seen as critical in preventing China from establishing a stronger presence in the region.
Underwater sea cables connect the island nations, and in some cases, those connections extend to Australia as the closest major developed landmass.
The Chinese government had been eyeing projects in the region, stepping in to narrow some of the connectivity divides experienced in nations such as Nauru and Fiji, and in 2022 pursued a Pacific-wide deal which included communications. Restoring Australia as the “partner of choice” for Pacific nations was one of the first identified priorities of the Albanese government.
The latest announcement follows a renewed push by the US and Australia to strategically freeze China out of the Pacific. In late 2023, the two allies announced plans for Google and Microsoft to build new trans-Pacific cables as part of the south Pacific Connect initiative, which blocked the Chinese owned Huawei firm from establishing its own cables.
The US-Australia agreement will see cabled internet connect parts of the Indo-Pacific region with the US and Australia. The cables are seen as a strategic advantage in an area the US and, by extension, Australia are attempting to maintain defensive and strategic control over.
Read more here.
US $500 Million Philippine Inducement
DOD officials said the SecDef's multi-country swing will be the administration's most important visit for "U.S. defense ties in the Indo-Pacific."
By Patrick Tucker (DefenseOne)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin heads to Asia today for what officials described as one of the most consequential visits to the region for “U.S. defense ties in the Indo-Pacific since the start of the [Biden] administration.” The trip features a meeting with counterparts from Japan and South Korea in Tokyo, and a stop in the Philippines, where Austin will announce $500 million in foreign military financing to help the island nation bolster its defenses.
The assistance is “a critical enabler of the Philippines’ defense modernization already underway,” and “an unprecedented provision of security assistance, which is an order of magnitude greater than what we have recently provided to the Philippines on an annual basis,” a senior defense official told reporters.
The Philippines has been the focus of increasing media attention and U.S. military focus following an incident in June in which members of the Chinese Coast Guard attacked Filipino Navy vessels. The attack included an ax as well as “blaring sirens to create chaos, disrupt communication, and divert the attention of AFP troops, exacerbating the hostile & dangerous situation,” the Filipino military said in a statement on X. It happened in the area of the Second Thomas Shoal, which legally is part of the Philippines’ economic zone, but which China claims as its own.
Since then, China has placed a “monster” 541 foot-long coast guard ship nearby, though on Sunday Beijing reached a deal with the Philippines to avoid further clashes. The details of the deal are reportedly a matter of some disagreement.
The $500 million in assistance is part of what a second official described as the “first-ever security sector assistance roadmap, which provides a framework for efficiently investing this $500 million in foreign military financing as well as Philippine national funds investments. Initially, we'll focus those shared investments on maritime self defense and cybersecurity capabilities.”
In Japan, U.S. and Japanese officials will discuss how to implement the joint command and control agreement the United States and Japan agreed to in April. The agreement includes placing a Joint Operations Command Center in Japan in 2025.
“We've been continuing to discuss this issue closely with the government of Japan, and we are pleased with where those discussions are headed. And we will be poised to announce a historic upgrade to our alliance command and control with significant and positive implications for regional peace and stability. Japan has taken a major step with the creation of the … Joint Operations Command,” the first official said.
Read more here.
Japan mesmerised by China spell?
In the lexicon of Japan’s diplomacy, there is a phrase, ‘China magic’.
By Shingo Yamagami (ASPI)
Both Japan and Australia seem to be absorbed by this magical power and obsessed with making efforts not to displease their Chinese counterparts. If they are not careful, Beijing will exploit this excessive enthusiasm for good relations, as it has in the past.
When the Quad foreign ministers meet on 29 July in Tokyo, the public agenda and remarks are likely to be largely positive—but don’t let that distract from the reality that the private talks will be largely dominated by China.
Just one example of Beijing’s recent undiplomatic and provocative statements came in May when the Chinese Ambassador to Japan, Wu Jianghao, said, in front of Japanese politicians and media, that ‘the Japanese people would be brought into fire’ if Japan should support the independence of Taiwan.
‘Fire’ means the use of force by China, which it doesn’t rule out using to achieve its proclaimed objective of ‘reunification with Taiwan’. So the remarks, taken literally, meant that the Peoples’ Liberation Army of China would not hesitate to kill Japanese citizens if Japan adopted a particular political position.
This is a preposterous statement to be made by a diplomat, who is expected to work hard to keep peace and improve the bilateral relationship between Japan and China.
What puzzled many Japanese people even more was the rather timid reaction by the Japanese government against such inflammatory language. This was the second time the ambassador had made such a provocative statement, yet Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) made only a muted protest, delivered by telephone and not in the traditional and formal way of summoning the ambassador to the ministry.
This reminds many observers of the weak and meek protests made by the then vice minister of foreign affairs after China launched five ballistic missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone in response to the visit to Taipei by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2021.
Australian analysts might see some parallels here. The recent visit to Australia by Chinese Premiere Li Qiang ended with smiles all round despite the reality that China’s economic coercion against Australia is yet to be fully lifted and Australian navy and air force personnel have been subjected to unprofessional, reckless and dangerous behavior by Chinese counterparts.
Why so? One commonality between Tokyo and Canberra seems to be the urge on the part of their political leaders to proclaim that they are doing better than their predecessors in dealing with China.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is eager to claim his improvement on China relations over predecessors Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga. For their part, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are promoting their approach of ‘stabilising’ the relationship and claiming superior diplomatic management compared with the previous Coalition government.
This is not the way diplomacy should be conducted. Consistency and continuity ought to be a guiding principle.
Many seasoned diplomats and clear-eyed observers would agree that the recent charm offensive by China would not have been possible without a solid and steadfast resistance by Australia against the massive economic coercion for the past few years.
Both Japan and Australia must be prepared for an urgent policy response in the event that China takes some kind of dramatic, escalatory action, such as firing on their their military aircraft or warships in an act of miscalculation. It is no use pretending that this is not a credible contingency for both our countries.
Even pro-Beijing commentators should know that China’s switch from ‘wolf warrior diplomacy’ to the new charm offensive needs to be taken with a grain of salt. As a case in point, the behaviour of the Chinese armed forces in the South China Sea and East China Sea has not improved tangibly whatsoever.
While it might not sound pleasant to some Australians, China’s recent approach could be taken as a sign that it sees Australia as the weakest link among Quad members.
History should be kind enough to remember that Australia has stood tall and dignified under the unprecedented waves of trade measures that disrupted and blocked the flow of many Australian exports to Chinese markets. In facing such adversity, far-sighted leadership galvanised the nation and refused to make unprincipled concessions for the sake of immediate economic gains.
Australia was most innovative in coming up with the brilliant initiative of AUKUS. For that, it has won international admiration and respect. Our mates in Australia must fully understand the importance of cherishing such a reputation and credentials.
Now is not the time to talk partisan politics, but rather to strengthen our two countries’ stances across their respective political divides against any possible attempt by our adversaries to drive a wedge between parties and weaken our position to deal with an authoritarian state.
Japan has some bitter memories. When the international community came up with strong sanctions in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, China thought Japan was the weak link among democratic nations. Then Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen boasted in his memoir that China succeeded in using Japan to weaken the international sanctions regime. He even admitted that Beijing took full advantage of the Japanese emperor’s visit to China at the time for just that purpose.
Australia’s modern leaders need to be wary that excessive exuberance while receiving Chinese leaders such as Premier Li—either in private or public—might leave Beijing with the impression they might use Australia in future just as they did Japan back then.
Read more here.
NB: Shingo Yamagami is a former Japanese ambassador to Australia and now special advisor to the Japanese law firm TMI Associates and a senior fellow of Sasakawa Peace Foundation. He will shortly become a regional director of the Institute for Regional Security.
Militarisation of Japan “institutionalised”
Japan shifts its defense posture, veering away from the pacifist constitution imposed on it by the United States in the aftermath of World War II.
Source: CNN
The United States will overhaul its military forces in Japan as the two countries move to deepen defense cooperation, Washington and Tokyo said Sunday, in a sweeping step to modernise their alliance in the face of mounting security threats in Asia.
The announcement comes as Japan and the US warily eye a region where China is seen as increasingly aggressive in asserting its disputed territorial claims and North Korea continues its illegal weapons program – while both tighten ties with Russia as it wages war in Ukraine.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Japanese counterparts Minoru Kihara and Yoko Kamikawa announced the plan in a joint statement following a meeting in Tokyo, where they also called China’s “political, economic, and military coercion” the “greatest strategic challenge” in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
The move is likely to stoke the ire of Beijing, which has watched warily as the US has bolstered ties with regional allies in a part of the world where observers say China seeks to be the dominant power – and where it’s accused the US of fostering a Cold War-style bloc mentality.
Under the new plan, US forces in Japan would be “reconstituted” as a joint force headquarters reporting to the Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command to “facilitate deeper interoperability and cooperation on joint bilateral operations in peacetime and during contingencies,” according to the statement.
In a press conference following the meeting, Austin hailed the countries’ move to “modernize” their alliance command and control as an “historic decision.”
“This will be the most significant change to US Forces Japan since its creation, and one of the strongest improvements in our military ties with Japan in 70 years,” Austin said.
He pointed both to the “upgrade” of US Forces Japan with “expanded missions and operational responsibilities,” announced Sunday, and Japan’s new Joint Operations Command, saying that the countries were reinforcing their “combined ability to deter and respond to coercive behavior in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”
The announcement follows an April summit in Washington between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, where the two vowed to upgrade their respective command-and-control framework “to strengthen deterrence and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific in the face of pressing regional security challenges.”
Details of the implementation would be figured out in working groups led by US Indo-Pacific Command, a senior US defense official said ahead of Sunday’s announcement, adding that there is no intention to integrate Japanese forces into the US commands.
US Forces Japan (USFJ), whose headquarters is Yokota Air Base, consists of approximately 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan under a 1960 mutual cooperation and security treaty.
The expected reconfiguration comes as Japan shifts its defense posture, veering away from the pacifist constitution imposed on it by the United States in the aftermath of World War II, with a plan to boost defense spending to about 2% of its GDP by 2027 and acquire counterstrike capabilities.
These changes have cemented Japan’s centrality to Washington’s regional security strategy and its push for increasing coordination with allies and partners amid rising regional tensions – and as it increasingly sees security in Europe and Asia as intertwined in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
The latest move also comes months ahead of the US presidential election, which American allies around the world have been watching closely, as Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned the cost of US alliances.
When asked whether the elections could impact US-Japan relations, Blinken said the long-standing alliance “was stronger than it’s even been” and would be “sustained irrespective of the outcome of elections in either of our countries.”
“The reason for that is because it’s manifestly in the interests of our people, the Japanese people, the American people, and people well beyond our countries,” he said.
Rising regional tensions
China was repeatedly mentioned with pointed language in the joint statement, with the ministers outlining shared concerns including what they described as Beijing’s “intensifying attempts to unilaterally change the status quo” in the East China Sea, its “threatening and provocative activities in the South China Sea,” and its “support for Russia’s defense industrial base.”
China has been aggressively asserting its claims in the contested waters of the South China Sea and maintaining an extended presence near Japanese-controlled islands Beijing claims in the East China Sea. Western leaders have accused Beijing of “enabling” Moscow’s war in Ukraine through the provision of dual-use goods, a charge Beijing denies.
The ministers also said Taiwan’s “political transition period should not be used as a pretext for provocative actions across the Taiwan Strait,” a statement that follows Chinese military drills encircling the self-ruled democracy Beijing claims just days after Taiwan swore in a new president in May.
When asked during the press conference about the relationship between the new command and concerns about China, Austin said the decision to strengthen the command was “not based upon any threat from China.” “It’s based on our desire and our ability to work closer together and to be more effective,” the defense chief said.
In the statement, the ministers also condemned North Korea’s missile testing and nuclear weapons programs, and condemned deepening Russia-North Korea cooperation, including Russia’s “procurement of ballistic missiles and other materiel from North Korea” for use in Ukraine.
The meeting follows a trilateral meeting earlier Sunday between defense chiefs from the United States, Japan and South Korea, the first of its kind in Tokyo – and yet another sign of the tightening coordination of regional US allies.
That came nearly one year after a landmark summit between the three countries held by Biden at Camp David. The burgeoning trilateral coordination between the US, Japan and South Korea marks a shift in regional relations, with Seoul and Tokyo – both long-standing US allies – widely seen as working to put aside historic animosity and mistrust to better address shared security threats.
On Sunday, the three defense chiefs vowed to strengthen cooperation to deter “nuclear and missile threats” from North Korea and formalized a trilateral agreement that reaffirms the “unwavering nature of the new era of trilateral cooperation,” according to a joint statement.
This would “institutionalise” trilateral security cooperation among their countries’ defense authorities, including senior-level policy consultations, information sharing, trilateral exercises, and defense exchange cooperation.
Read more here.
South Korean American Pie
S. Korea, U.S., Japan ink document formalising trilateral security cooperation
By Lee Minji (Yonhap news)
The defense chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan signed a document on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework (TSCF) on Sunday , Seoul's defense ministry said, in a move solidifying their continued commitment to three-way security cooperation against North Korean threats.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Minoru Kihara, respectively, inked a Memorandum of Cooperation on the framework in Tokyo amid their deepening security cooperation in response to the North's persistent nuclear and missile threats and growing military alignment with Russia.
As the first document that institutionalizes joint efforts for trilateral security cooperation among defense authorities, it provides the direction and policy principle for areas of high-level policy consultations, information sharing and trilateral drills, according to the defense ministry.
"Accordingly, the ministers of the three nations reaffirmed the unwavering nature of the new era of trilateral cooperation," it said in a joint press statement.
Under the agreement, the three nations are expected to step up cooperation for the effective operation of their real-time sharing of North Korean missile data and regularly carry out joint drills, including the multi-domain Freedom Edge exercise, based on a multiyear plan.
The document's signing came after South Korea proposed drawing up a joint document during a trilateral security meeting in February, followed by a meeting of the defense chiefs on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue in June where they agreed on inking the document within this year.
In what marked their first-ever gathering in Tokyo, the three defense chiefs also voiced concerns over growing military and economic cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, emboldened by the signing of the "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty that includes a mutual defense clause.
They also denounced the North's diversification of nuclear delivery systems and test launches of multiple ballistic missiles, as well as other tension-escalating acts on the Korean Peninsula.
Still, Shin said he believes trilateral security cooperation will likely endure regardless of who wins in the November election.
"It remains unchanged that North Korea's nuclear and missile threats threaten the security of the three countries, and there are a lot of regional challenges," Shin said. "I believe it will continue to be pursued in an unwavering nature since it is aligned with the respective national interests of the three countries."
The TSCF is not only the first such document between the three nations but also serves as a "benchmark document" that institutionalizes their security cooperation, Shin said.
The defense chiefs plan to meet in Seoul next year for their trilateral ministerial meeting.
Read more here.
Philippine General Position
By C. Nika (AKP Phnom Penh)
Cambodia and the Philippines have vowed to further strengthen and expand the cooperation between their armies.
The commitment was made in a meeting here at the Peace Palace this morning between Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet and visiting H.E. Lt. Gen. Roy M. Galido, Commander of the Philippine Army.
On the occasion, both sides lauded the fruitful development of relations and cooperation between both countries’ armies, and exchanged views to further foster the cooperation through the continuation of joint training, human resource training, information sharing and experience exchange.
The discussion also touched on the cooperation in the fight against cybercrime, capacity building, preparedness for disaster relief operations and humanitarian assistance, as well as the promotion of unit-to-unit cooperation of the two countries' armies in the future.
H.E. Lt. Gen. Roy M. Galido expressed his optimism and commitment to further strengthen and broaden the cooperation between the Philippine and Cambodian armies.
For his part, Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet spoke highly of the joint training that has contributed to further building capacity and mutual understanding in preparedness to respond to eventual non-traditional threats.
Read more here.