Japan’s move to establish a new bureau to boost defence cooperation with allies is part of Tokyo’s wider policy to deepen deterrence against China, analysts say, adding that the internal reform was also long overdue for the government.
The new unit will be under the defence ministry to oversee international coordination with like-minded countries, according to government and political sources cited by local media earlier this month.
The move is said to be aimed at strengthening the ministry’s capacity to work more closely with allies amid what Tokyo sees as an increasingly challenging security environment.
Local reports cited “military threats” from North Korea, Russia and China as the basis for Japan’s urgency to “strengthen cooperation with countries in Southeast Asia and Europe in order to maintain deterrence”.
The planned bureau is expected to handle the transfer of defence equipment to partner countries and negotiate agreements between Japan’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF) and foreign militaries.
In a proposal submitted in June to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s research commission on security said: “The policy challenges the defence ministry must address have continued to increase, and the current structure is clearly insufficient.”