Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” Strategy: Tokyo’s Tactical Hedging and the Implications for ASEAN

Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” Strategy: Tokyo’s Tactical Hedging and the Implications for ASEAN

This article argues that by creating a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy" (FOIPS) in 2016, Japan has engaged in "tactical hedging" to cope with the strategic uncertainty engendered by China's growing economic power and political influence in Asia and the Trump administrat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary Southeast Asia Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 286 - 313
Main Author: Koga, Kei
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Singapore ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute 01-08-2019
Subjects:
Alliances
Ambiguity
Concept formation
Cooperation
Foreign policy
International cooperation
International relations
Lee Hsien Loong
Maritime law
Political power
Politics
Power
Presidents
Prime ministers
Scandals
Trends
Trump, Donald J
Uncertainty
Singapore
Cambodia
United States > US
Philippines
Japan
East Asia
India
Jakarta Indonesia
Southeast Asia
Vietnam
Asia
Indo-Pacific region
China
Australia
Indonesia
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article argues that by creating a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy" (FOIPS) in 2016, Japan has engaged in "tactical hedging" to cope with the strategic uncertainty engendered by China's growing economic power and political influence in Asia and the Trump administration's uncertain foreign policy towards the region. Tactical hedging refers to a declaratory policy doctrine that aims to utilize temporal strategic ambiguity to understand and determine whether any long-term strategy shift is necessary or possible. In doing so, Japan has bided its time in order to understand strategic trends and coordinate policies and principles with allies and partners-especially the United States and ASEAN-and shaped the concept of a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" (FOIP) in accordance with those consultations since 2016. Nevertheless, the emerging trend-especially the clear division between America's more hardline stance towards China and ASEAN's own conceptualization of the Indo-Pacific which aims to facilitate cooperation with China-indicates that the benefits of tactical hedging are diminishing, and that Japan needs to clarify its political stance if it wants to maintain its own FOIP concept as a viable strategic vision.
ISSN:0129-797X
1793-284X
DOI:10.1355/cs41-2l