Section 1 Promotion of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)”

1 Overview

The Indo-Pacific region, which stretches from the Asia-Pacific across the Indian Ocean to the Middle East and Africa, is the core of the world's vitality and supports more than half of the world's population. At the same time, the region is home to several countries with strong military capabilities, and there have been some acts that shake the very foundation of the international order based on the rule of law. The region also faces a variety of threats, such as piracy, terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, natural disasters and illegal fishing. It is essential to ensure peace and prosperity in the entire region and beyond, through establishing a free and open order based on the rule of law.

Japan has long emphasized the importance of taking a holistic view of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, as seen in the “Confluence of the Two Seas” speech regarding the Indian and Pacific Oceans delivered by Prime Minister Abe to the Indian Parliament in 2007. In August 2016, this concept was brought to fruition as the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” vision, which Prime Minister Abe announced to the world in his keynote speech at the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) in Kenya. In his speech, Prime Minister Abe stated that the key to stability and prosperity of the international community is the dynamism created by combining “Two Continents”─rapidly-growing Asia and potential-filled Africa─and “Two Oceans”─free and open Pacific and Indian Oceans─and that Japan would work to realize prosperity in Asia and Africa.

Japan has strategically promoted efforts to realize FOIP in cooperation with like-minded countries from 2016 to the present. As a result, the vision of FOIP first proposed by Japan has now gained broad support in the international community, including the U.S., Australia, India, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), and other European countries. Various consultations and cooperation are also underway. Numerous policy documents on the Indo-Pacific have been released, such as the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) adopted at the ASEAN Summit in June 2019, the Joint Communication on the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific presented by the EU in September 2021, the Indo-Pacific Strategy presented by the U.S. in February 2022 and Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Strategy for a Free, Peaceful, and Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region presented by the Republic of Korea (ROK) in November.

However, the current international community is seeing developments in an outright brazen opposition to the “free and open international order based on the rule of law,” which FOIP has advocated. In this very severe situation, it is ever more important to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order in cooperation with a range of international partners. Therefore, in June, at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, Prime Minister Kishida presented the “Kishida Vision for Peace,”¹ one of whose pillars is bringing new developments toward FOIP. In this context, Prime Minister Kishida announced that he will further accelerate cooperation for FOIP, strengthen diplomatic efforts including by expanding Official Development Assistance (ODA) while engaging in a proper, efficient and strategic use of international cooperation through ODA, and lay out a new plan for FOIP by the spring of 2023.²

• 1 The five pillars of the “Kishida Vision for Peace”
  (1) Maintaining and strengthening the rules-based free and open international order and bringing new developments toward FOIP
  (2) Advancing the fundamental reinforcement of Japan's defense capabilities, further reinforcing the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance, and strengthening security cooperation with other like-minded countries.
  (3) Promoting realistic efforts to bring about a “world without nuclear weapons”
  (4) Strengthening the functions of the United Nations (UN), including UN Security Council reform
  (5) Strengthening international cooperation in new policy areas such as economic security
• 2 See the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website regarding Prime Minister Kishida's March 20, 2023, policy speech on Japan's new plan for FOIP:
  https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/pc/page1e_000586.html