Oct 21, 2020
Originally published 21 October 2020.
Veerle and Ryosuke Hanada, Indo-Pacific Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre, explore the origins of Japan’s Indo-Pacific policy, unpack its trajectory over the last few years, and look ahead at whether and how it might evolve in a post-Abe government.
They also discuss Japan’s priority sub-regions and policy areas in the Indo-Pacific, which helps pinpoint areas for collaboration and cooperation with partners in Europe, including the United Kingdom. Opportunities clearly lie ahead for UK-Japan engagement in the region.
The idea of the Indo-Pacific as a theatre for influence and power is gaining prominence among governments and expert communities across the world.
A number of regional and global powers with interests in the region, as well as groupings like ASEAN, have presented their own unique interpretations of the Indo-Pacific as a strategic concept that connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans along with their littoral states as an integrated arena for competition and collaboration.