The 40 students in the 'Maritime Issues and Strategies' major at the national session have just returned from a week-long study trip to Japan, where they met senior officials, attended lectures and visited sites of strategic importance such as government ministries, Japanese and American naval bases and a military and commercial port.
Their very busy schedule enabled them to understand the crucial role played by the archipelago in current geopolitical issues, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region in which it is located. This article is based on information taken from the teaching pack for their mission.
Japan's strategic environment exposes it to multiple security challenges: in addition to the ballistic and nuclear threat from neighbouring North Korea, there is the age-old strategic confrontation with China. The former has led the archipelago to strengthen its missile defence (in cooperation with the United States) and to transform helicopter carriers into F-35B-capable aircraft carriers. As for the second, it determines Japan's external action, whether diplomatic or defence-related, particularly at sea. The country suffers from a major strategic vulnerability: its dependence on sea routes for its energy supplies (oil, gas, coal), which means that it attaches particular importance to freedom of navigation.
CHINA, A STRATEGIC COMPETITOR AND TRADING PARTNER
A study by the Fondation méditerranéenne d'études stratégiques (FMES) sums up Japan's place in maritime issues in this part of the world:
«The Japanese archipelago is the gateway to Asia from the North Pacific. It therefore has unrestricted access to the high seas of the Pacific Ocean, which it controls from the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. On the other hand, Japan does not have easy access to the Indian Ocean, on which its energy imports and, more generally, its economy depend. As a strategic competitor of China, it finds itself in a position where it can hinder China's expansion to the east while at the same time fearing restrictions on access to the west.»
A strategic competitor, China is also Japan's largest trading partner, and China's second largest. Despite the need for balanced dialogue that this interdependence requires, Japan has recently, at the request of the US administration, taken a harder line with its continental neighbour on the issue of Taiwan. The Japan-US alliance remains the cornerstone of Japanese foreign policy, all the more so since Washington has shifted its focus to the Indo-Pacific. In this context, the archipelago sees the AUKUS initiative as a welcome contribution to its desire to create a "free and open" Indo-Pacific region.
Tokyo is implementing this vision in response to China's strategy".Belt and Road Initiative". Japan is seeking to promote strategic continuity between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific via maritime communication routes. This concept has the advantage of including Africa and seeks to exploit existing synergies between Japanese, American, Indian and Australian strategies in the region: Japan is in fact a member of the QUAD alliance, a quadrilateral security dialogue with Australia, the United States and India.
"A NEW PLAN FOR A FREE AND OPEN INDOPACIFIC
On the eastern side, the archipelago is seeking closer ties with the island states of the South Pacific. A new multilateral defence dialogue with these countries (Japan Pacific Islands Defense Dialogue) was created in 2020. The Japanese navy is also conducting "strategic calls" to ensure that the main ports in the region are open and used on a non-exclusive basis.
Japan is more involved in the Indian Ocean than ever before, sending warships since 2001 to secure maritime lines of communication, conducting annual joint exercises with India since 2017, donating patrol boats to Sri Lanka, financing infrastructure in coastal countries, etc. The Japanese Prime Minister also announced a "new plan for a free and open Indo-Pacific" during his visit to India on 20 March.
Japan is also joining forces with nations taking a tough stance on China, including Australia and the United Kingdom. Australia is Japan's leading defence partner after the United States, as demonstrated by the upmarket nature of military cooperation, the increase in high-level exchanges and the signing of a reciprocal access agreement (RAA) on 6 January. The AUKUS initiative has undoubtedly accelerated Tokyo's negotiations with London, which also signed an Australian-style RAA with Tokyo on 11 January 2023, making the UK Japan's leading partner in Europe.
AN "EXCEPTIONAL PARTNER FOR FRANCE
As far as France is concerned, the bilateral relationship has been structured since 1995 by a strategic partnership, transformed in 2013 into a "partnership of exception". On the maritime side, the second Franco-Japanese Global Maritime Dialogue was held on 2 February 2023 at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo. Both sides welcomed France's membership of HACGAM (Heads of Asian Coast Guards Agencies Meeting) in December 2021, and the signing of a roadmap for strengthening maritime cooperation between the Japanese coastguard and the French Secrétariat Général de la Mer in July 2021. The French General Secretariat for the Sea has expressed its desire to deepen cooperation in the field of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) for the surveillance of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of both countries. There was also talk of strengthening bilateral cooperation between the French Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force and Coast Guard.
Since 13 March 2015, the two countries have also been linked by an intergovernmental agreement (AIG) on the "transfer of defence equipment and technologies", which provides a framework for their arms relationship. However, the penetration rate of the French arms industry remains low in a potentially important market with a partner of complementary technological level. Japan's annual order intake is traditionally limited (€700m accumulated over the last ten years). The main industrial collaborations concern mortars and maritime surveillance aircraft.
Finally, Japan is also a major partner of the European Union. The Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) were signed in July 2018. In September 2019, the EU and Japan also concluded a Partnership on Connectivity Cooperation, to promote sustainable and rules-based connectivity, and work on its operationalisation is currently being pursued.
All these measures are directly aimed at countering Chinese expansionism, the direct consequences of which Japan fears for both its economy and the integrity of its territory. Japan is therefore taking preventive and deterrent measures, while contributing to greater autonomy for the countries on the front line of China's claims in the South China Sea.
