Security for PALM Countries in Japan's Indo-Pacific Strategy

Once again, the Japan Self-Defense Forces' involvement in the Pacific island countries was confirmed clearly at the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM). This builds on the achievements of the annual Maritime Self-Defense Force deployment to the Indo-Pacific since 2017. It further follows the Japan-Pacific Islands Defense Dialogue (JPIDD).

Japan's policy towards Pacific island countries has been clear since the 8th Islands Summit in 2018. Chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it firmly ensconced the concepts of maritime security and the free and open Indo-Pacific within the PALM.

I was invited to give a lecture, including these two points in the previous year, successively to the Maritime Parliamentary Caucus and the Islands Parliamentary Caucus. Japanese Diet member Keiji Furuya chaired both caucuses.

This included a proposal based on a Micronesian maritime security project which I launched in 2008. What triggered it was the alarm over China issued by Commander Timothy Keating of the United States Pacific Command (now US Indo-Pacific Command). On the other hand, Micronesian countries were also increasingly concerned about maritime security, particularly how to control illegal fishing.

Essentially, the US military, a signatory to the Free Association Agreement, should have been responsible for the region's security. However, the US presence had diminished since the end of the Cold War. Therefore, the question was, who was protecting the vast Pacific Ocean?

The Australian Pacific Patrol Boat Program (PPBP), which began in the 1970s, took on the task. However, in 2008, the Royal Australian Navy indicated that it was not the navy's role to chase fish. It said the PPBP patrols would stop as they could not be self-sustaining.

Request from the Micronesian Presidents' Summit

The 8th Micronesian Presidential Summit held in November 2008 passed a resolution requesting maritime surveillance cooperation from Japanese NGOs. I consulted His Excellency Billy Kuartei, who had served as minister of education, then minister of foreign affairs, and at that time, chief of staff to the president since Palau's independence. Previously, we had been in close contact on distance education and telecommunications regulatory reforms.

*Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirm their nations' cooperation in the run-up to PALM10 at a joint press conference held on June 4. (©Kyodo)*

When we spoke, he was in Hawaii discussing the Free Association Agreement with the US military forces.

"I've just been talking to Commander Keating and others about it," he said. "They need Japanese naval power to defend this vast Pacific. But I just heard that it was the US that tied Japan's hands and feet. I will tell the president and put it on the agenda for the next Micronesian Presidential Summit."

I still remember feeling like I had gotten stuck in a fox's claws.

After World War I, Micronesia, a former German territory, became a Japanese mandate territory. Then, after the Pacific War, it became a trust territory of the US. It then became independent under a Free Association Agreement with the US.

As a "strategic area" of the US, it was under US security jurisdiction. However, the US was seeking Japan's cooperation. The Pacific Command Forces in Hawaii were especially positive about Japan's move at the request of the Micronesian Presidential Summit.

Nevertheless, Article 9 of Japan's Occupation-era constitution set boundaries for Japan's defense policy with the Japan-US security treaty.

The Japan-US alliance and Article 9

Journalists who do not know Japan's defense policy and history often talk about the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' expansion into the Pacific islands as if it were a prewar movement. However, this is not true. First of all, Japan's postwar defense capability was dependent upon the US military. Good or bad, the Japan-US security treaty was the basis of Japan's defense policy.

Then there was Article 9 of the Constitution, which was interpreted to make the Japan-US alliance unilateral. In other words, it was a regime in which the US protected Japan, but Japan could not protect the US.

That changed when the 1990 Gulf War broke out. Because of Article 9, Japan could not respond to the US request for assistance. And although Japan provided $13 billion USD in aid, Kuwait did not even acknowledge it with gratitude. Later, Japan's defense policy would be discussed as "the trauma of the Gulf War."

82nd Airborne Division returning from Operation Desert Storm on April 2, 1991. Japan was harshly criticized for its 'checkbook diplomacy" by some of its allies during the First Gulf War. (©public domain)

The Micronesian Maritime Security Project

The Micronesian Maritime Security Project was launched to move the Japan-US alliance forward. Namely, the goal was to have the US and Japan work together to protect Micronesia.

By Cabinet decision in 2015, the Shinzo Abe administration adopted the Legislation for Peace and Security. It permitted Japan Self-Defense Force ships previously tied up in port to leave the country and conduct joint exercises.

The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 also changed the public's faith in the Self-Defense Forces. Many young Japanese who wanted to save lives were enlisting in the SDF.

What Would Japan's Self-Defense Forces Protect?

There is an expression that security is a dialogue about who protects who and from what threats.

In 2008, the Royal Australian Navy declared that enforcing illegal fishing was not the job of its navy. However, currently, one mission of the US and other navies around the world is to enforce rules against illegal fishing. That is because illegal fishing includes involvement in all kinds of transnational crimes, from the destruction of fishery habitats to illegal drugs and human trafficking. And they even have dynamite.

I, too, cooperated with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's deployment to the Indo-Pacific in 2021. Initially, the Palauan Government refused to conduct joint exercises with the JMSDF. On the other hand, an acquaintance from the Palau National Security Office asked if the JMSDF could bring judo uniforms.

*Submarine JS Raigei of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on October 17, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Kobe Factory in Chuo-ku, Kobe. (©Sankei by Kotaro Hikono)*

After tweeting the request to Defense Minister (at the time) Nobuo Kishi, the JMSDF contacted me. We raised funds and sent 75 judo uniforms to Palau on JS Kaga, a JMSDF destroyer. This was not just a friendly exchange. I wanted to advise the JMSDF that they should make it a primary purpose to protect Palauan children.

Taking On New Roles in the Pacific

The JMSDF was also deployed to assist during the Tonga disaster in 2022. That is when a massive underwater volcano erupted. The navies from China and Australia were also dispatched, but there were problems with Chinese food aid supplies. Then, the Royal Australian Navy's battleship broke down on site. As a result, it was an experience that showcased Japan's role and limitations.

Deploying the JSDF into the field for joint exercises and exchanges with local counterparts provides opportunities to seek what and how to best assist with protection. These also present an opportunity for the Pacific island countries to clarify what they want Japan to do and not do.

Considerable attention has been focused on missile defense. Moreover, the China threat is undeniable. Meanwhile, the vulnerability of Pacific island countries to health problems, abuse of their resources, and natural disasters is significant. The world's navies have an important role to play in responding to those needs.

Author: Rieko Hayakawa, PhD
Rieko Hayakawa, PhD, is a Japanese scholar with expertise in Pacific security, ICT 4 Development, and ocean law. She worked at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and managed its fund related to the Pacific Islands from 1991 to 2017. Read her full biography and find her essays and analysis on Pacific Island countries on JAPAN Forward.