Japan, EU to Launch Defense Partnership to Deter China, North Korea & Russia

Japan and the European Union(EU) today agreed to launch a defense and security partnership that will address areas such as maritime security and tie-ups in the defense industry.

The new partnership was announced Friday in Tokyo by Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell during the first-ever Japan-EU Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue amid growing strategic alignment between China, Russia and North Korea in the Indo-Pacific region.

“The aim is to develop, deepen and strengthen cooperation and dialogue across all areas of security and defense,” Iwaya said ahead of the meeting, adding that the proposed partnership “anticipates greater collaboration in fields such as maritime security, space, cybersecurity and hybrid threats, including foreign information manipulation and interference.”

The proposed partnership will also include include naval cooperation, such as joint training and capacity-building of other Indo-Pacific countries, counter terrorism and joint initiatives in the defense industry.

The partnership proposes to work with the EU’s "Enhancing Security Cooperation in and with Asia" project and its Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), the latter of which also enables Europe to take a leading role in international peacekeeping operations in coordination with the United Nations.

While Japan is the first Indo-Pacific country to adopt such a framework with the EU, Brussels’ security outreach to the region will not be limited to Tokyo. There are plans to launch a similar defense partnership with South Korea “imminently” amid reports that Borrell will visit Seoul on Monday for an inaugural bilateral strategic dialogue.

This was reflected in concerns expressed by both Borrell and Iwaya about the increasingly tense territorial and maritime disputes in the East and South China seas. The top diplomats also reaffirmed the "strategic importance" of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait for regional and global security and prosperity.