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Strategic Vision vol. 8, no. 42 (June, 2019)
Rising Sun
Japan assumes expanded role in Indo-Pacific region under Shinzo Abe Nguyen Vo Huyen Dung
I
n recent years, international relations in the Asia-Pacific have become extremely complicated due to the rise of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The revival of Quad 2, India’s Act East Policy, the promotion of Japan’s soft power, and strategic adjustments by US President Donald Trump, with its new focus on the “Indo-Pacific” (as opposed to the formulation “Asia-Pacific,” espoused by the previous administration) are just some of the major developments. The US Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) Strategy is contributing significantly to shaping and dominating the structure as well as the power balance in the region.
As a member of the US-Japan alliance, Japan is actively confirming its role in the FOIP strategy. With certain successes of the Abenomics policy, the Cool Japan policy, and the decision to reinterpret Article 9 of the 1947 Constitution, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration is striving to take advantage of opportunities as well as to ease certain challenges when facing global and regional complex movements. The term “Indo-Pacific” was first introduced by Indian strategist Gurpreet S. Khurana in 2007 and then later was used in turn by Abe in 2007 and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011, and was
photo: Whitney C. Houston A Japanese landing craft, air cushion approaches Langham Beach, Queensland Australia, July 16, during Exercise Talisman Saber 2019.
Nguyen Vo Huyen Dung is a lecturer and head of the International Relations Division at the Faculty of International Studies at the University of Foreign Language Studies, University of Danang, Vietnam.