【英文】兰德报告：印太地区国家对中美竞争的反应（日本篇）（68页）

英文研究报告 2020年12月07日 06:51 管理员

A final point that discussions with Japanese experts brought out came from outside of the Southeast Asia region in nearby Papua New Guinea, where Japan has helped establish and train that nation’s first military band. As one specialist pointed out, “this is the first time that Japan has helped directly shape the existence and structure of the military of a foreign country,” a development that could be relevant as the United States and Japan look to deepen their support for, and thereby improve the reception they receive in, Southeast Asia.139 Although such a development clearly carries no operational implications, it was regarded by some Japanese interlocutors as a useful precedent that could later be turned to for more-substantial engagements with regional militaries.

Still, as one Japanese expert warned, it is important to bear in mind that Japan’s primary focus is on applying its new legal modalities to expanded defense cooperation in Northeast Asia, closer to the Japanese home islands, rather than in Southeast Asia, saying that “some senior Japanese officials have stated that [the debate over the status of the] South China Sea is ‘over.’”140 Another Japanese expert agreed, arguing that expecting Japan to place a high degree of attention on building partner capacity in Southeast Asia would be a mistake, since Japan is not likely to dramatically increase its contributions in a short period, but a joint effort to “gradually” build up ASEAN’s maritime domain awareness and ISR capabilities was more realistic.141 It is worth remembering that challenges of politics, policy, resources, and legal and constitutional interpretations will also continue to constrain Japan’s security cooperation with the region for some time.