TOKYO: Japan has unveiled a new plan to provide “like-minded” countries especially in Asia with military aid as it looks to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China’s aggressive push over Taiwan and the South China Sea issues.
The guidelines announced by Tokyo early this month included a programme to strengthen the militaries of like-minded countries by providing “security assistance” — a move that breaks with its previous policy of avoiding the use of development aid for military purposes other than disaster relief.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said Philippines will be one of the first beneficiaries of Overseas Security Assistance (OSA), with Malaysia, Bangladesh and Fiji also among those being considered.
Tokyo’s decision to use international aid for military purposes is a ‘paradigm shift’ but won’t lead to an arms race in Asia.