William Choong

Opinion | America and Japan’s vision of an Indo-Pacific free from Chinese threat runs into deep waters

The ‘free and open Indo-Pacific strategy’ most stridently championed by the US is to some extent supported by members of the Quad security bloc, but Asean refuses to be drawn into any configuration which focuses on a putative China threat

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Japanese warship JS Izumo, seen here in May 2017, has been carrying out joint exercises in the South China with ships from the navies of India, the Philippines and the US. Photo: Kyodo

William Choong

Published: 9:00am, 23 May 2019Updated: 9:00am, 23 May 2019

Berthed at Singapore’s Changi Naval Base last week, the warship JS Izumo cut a sharp silhouette. Commissioned in 2015, the Izumo’s career is a reflection of Japan’s success as a regional power.

As Japan’s biggest surface combatant, the Izumo weathered opposition from countries such as China, which accused Japan of launching an aircraft carrier prohibited under its pacifist constitution. Japan insists the Izumo is a helicopter destroyer, and hence legal under its reinterpreted constitution, which permits the deployment of assets for Japan’s defence.

Since then, it has been fairly plain sailing for Izumo and its sister ship, the JS Kaga. The Izumo and the Kaga have in the past three years gone on months-long deployments in the Indo-Pacific, asserting the fundamental right of Japan – and other trade-dependent countries – to open sea-lanes of communication. The freedom of navigation, as well as economic prosperity and the securing of regional stability, is a key pillar of Japan’s “free and open Indo-Pacific strategy”.

This year, the highlight of the Izumo’s Indo-Pacific deployment was in early May, when six ships from Japan, India, the Philippines and the United States carried out exercises in the South China Sea. The exercise was seen as an overt signal to China, underscoring the fact that Japan, the US and like-minded countries could bring naval power to bear in the South China Sea, as China continues its controversial military build-up in the area.

India, Japan and the US are also part of the Quad, or quadrilateral security group, which meets and consults on vital defence and security issues. The Quad, which includes Australia, is also behind this free and open Indo-Pacific strategy.

Japan has also been indefatigable in playing a regional role in economics. In the wake of Washington’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Tokyo played a major role in putting together the 11-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. It also sought to offer a more sustainable connectivity solution to a region in the form of Partnership for Quality Infrastructure, seen as a not-so-subtle counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.