MAIN TOPIC: EU27 in a multipolar world
Japan and the EU have enough reasons to cooperate on maritime security
EU-Japan Maritime Security Cooperation in East Asia by Hideshi Tokuchi, Senior Fellow, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo
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U-Japan cooperation is of global importance today. Hideshi Tokuchi The “transatlantic pivot to Asia” is not an American is a senior fellow at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies rhetorical flourish because the basic principles behind and a visiting fellow of Sophia University’s Institute the rules-based liberal international order are inherent of International Relations. He has served as Japan’s not only in the US but also in Europe and Japan. first Vice-Minister of Defence for International Affairs However, this international order is a reflection of the from July 2014 to October 2015. In the Ministry of American political system, and therefore the role of the Defense Mr Tokuchi also had served as the DirecUS in sustaining the order is special. If the US cannot tor-General of four bureaus such as operations and Photo: private assume the role now, the EU and Japan should work defence policy. together to lead it and to engage the US, and make sure it returns to its leading role in support of the rules-based order. Maritime order is important for Europe and Japan as the sea is one. Even the Arctic Ocean should be put into the scope of EU-Japan maritime security cooperation. Because of global warming, the Arctic region is becoming a focal point. New shipping routes in that region would bring the EU have enough reasons to cooperate on this issue. Europe and Asia much closer. Meanwhile, China declares itself But all gray zone threats are not alike. Russia mainly targets a near Arctic state, and its Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) includes democratic institutions through political subversion, and Chithe Arctic Silk Road. The Arctic is also becoming a place of na’s tactics take on a more materially threatening form. Howevstrategic competition of great powers. er, they have two things in common. One is that quick response to these threats is critical. The other is that both Russia and China seem vulnerable to powerful information campaigns deThe marine environment signed to make them pay a reputational cost for those actions.1 The ocean covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface and is a global ecosystem. Protection of the marine environment is also It is not easy to make them pay this cost, but if we stopped our important in the strategic competition of great powers. For efforts, it would be exactly what they want. example, China’s reclamation activities in the South China Sea have been causing serious damages to the marine ecosystem. Recovery of the regional balance of power The Permanent Court of Arbitration found that China had The history of the South China Sea teaches us an important caused severe harm to the coral reef environment and violated lesson: “Do not create a power vacuum.” China expanded its obligation to preserve fragile ecosystems, but China does its presence there, exploiting the power vacuum created by not admit it. With this in mind, I believe that maritime secuthe withdrawal of France, the US and the former Soviet Union rity cooperation between the EU and Japan should include from Southeast Asia. Any efforts, including joint exercises and environmental protection. So, article 29 (Maine affairs) of the maritime security capacity building assistance, to recover a EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement, which lays down in favorable balance of power in the region will be valuable. Marparagraph (a) the rule of law and in paragraph (b) conservation itime domain awareness is critical for early warning and quick and management of marine ecosystems, should be viewed as response. EU-Japan cooperation for the education and training one package. of regional navies and coast guards will be useful, too. Defence industrial cooperation to help Southeast Asian countries build their capabilities will also be valuable. Gray zone warfare For Japan, it will be an integral part of the implementation of The nature of the maritime gray zone warfare which China has the vision for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific and should be prioribeen engineering in East Asia has a number of commonalities tised in its approach toward the region. with the hybrid warfare which Russia has been engineering in Europe. Both straddle the military and non-military domains 1 Lyle Morris et al., Gaining Competitive Advantage in the Gray Zone: Response and are associated with low-intensity violation of national sovOptions for Coercive Aggression Below the Threshold of Major War, RAND ereignty under the threshold of an armed attack. So, Japan and Corporation, 2019, pp. 89, 133.
Maritime domain awareness is critical for “early warning and quick response”
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