Japan urges ASEAN unity amid growing security threats

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Wednesday warned that Southeast Asia's security environment is “rapidly deteriorating,” calling for stronger ASEAN unity, centrality and resilience amid overlapping regional and global threats.

Speaking at the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting with Japan, Koizumi cited increasingly severe natural disasters, disruptions to global supply chains and energy supplies, and shifts in the military balance that could heighten the risk of coercion and miscalculation.

“Conflicts worldwide are reaching our supply chains and energy supplies, and the military balance is shifting fast, raising the risk of coercion against the vulnerable and of dangerous miscalculations,” Koizumi said.

“These crises do not merely add up. They overlap and amplify one another. So what must we protect? ASEAN's unity, its centrality, and its resilience,” he added.

Koizumi said unity would allow ASEAN members to cooperate despite differences, while centrality would enable the bloc to set its own regional agenda. Resilience, meanwhile, would help countries maintain essential services and decision-making autonomy during crises.

“Unity gives us a common will. Centrality turns that will into common action. Resilience keeps that action alive when the storm arrives,” he said.

The Japanese defense chief emphasized that Tokyo would support ASEAN-led initiatives without dictating the bloc's priorities.

“Our aim is simple – to widen the options for ASEAN and for each member to understand, decide, and act on its own.”

Koizumi also proposed three approaches to strengthening defense cooperation under the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus).

First, he called for updating the priorities of the Experts' Working Groups (EWGs), which facilitate cooperation between ASEAN countries and dialogue partners.

Japan supports ASEAN's ongoing review of the working groups, particularly as emerging challenges involving artificial intelligence, unmanned systems, complex disasters, and critical undersea infrastructure require new approaches.

“When challenges change, cooperation must change with them,” Koizumi said.

Second, he urged greater coordination among the working groups, citing the Trident Resolve exercise in Indonesia in September, which brought together three EWGs for a joint field exercise.

He said ASEAN and its partners could explore mechanisms to sustain such cooperation while considering personnel and budget constraints.

Third, Koizumi proposed broader engagement with countries and relevant organizations outside the ADMM-Plus framework, while maintaining ASEAN's authority over participation rules.

He stressed that expanded participation in working group activities should remain separate from any expansion of ADMM-Plus membership.

“Within those principles, welcoming external countries and relevant organizations will strengthen ASEAN's centrality, not weaken it,” Koizumi said.

Closing his remarks, Koizumi reaffirmed Japan's support for ASEAN-led decision-making.

“The direction is yours. Japan will do everything it can to turn your choices into real strength,” he said.