Japan, Pacific Island States Plan for Next Meeting

In mid-October, Pacific Islands foreign ministers digitally met with Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Motegi Toshimitsu to plan for the 9th Japan-Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM) scheduled to be held in 2021 in the Japanese city of Shima. The PALM meetings are held every three years, providing the Japanese leadership an opportunity to engage in high level talks and find common interests and areas of cooperation with Pacific Island leaders.

During this digital forum, Motegi emphasized Japan’s commitment to support Pacific Island countries in their attempts to keep themselves safe from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as mitigate some of the economic costs that these states are suffering due to the loss of tourist revenue. Japan has already provided the region with $37 million worth of medical equipment and a further $5.5 million worth of technical support since the pandemic began. But Japan has also pledged to provide support loans to the Pacific to help with their immediate economic needs.

During the meeting, the foreign ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to “a free, open and sustainable maritime order based on the rule of law in the Pacific.” The PALM8 communiqué from 2018 highlighted Japan’s commitment to strengthening the maritime law enforcement capacities of these states. Most Pacific Island states have large Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), which cover areas far larger than their landmasses. Traditionally the ocean is vital to how these nations conceive of themselves, yet they have limited capabilities to monitor and police these areas. This makes vast areas of the Pacific vulnerable to a number of transnational crimes, in particular illegal fishing ventures, which not only rob Pacific Island countries of revenue, but are also not subject to sustainable practices.

In recent years Japan has provided training courses and updated equipment to assist Pacific Island states in combating illegal fishing in their waters. A 2016 report by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency estimated that illegal fishing was costing Pacific Island countries $600 million a year, with sustainability experts also warning that this phenomenon was increasingly damaging to the region’s tuna stocks. Despite being an island nation itself, Japan still imports 40 percent of its seafood consumption. Thus, the sustainability of seafood stocks and the legality of harvesting are vital interests to Tokyo.

The mutual interests of Japan and the Pacific Island countries are most keenly felt in the natural environment. As countries highly prone to natural disasters, strengthening countermeasures against climate change and enhancing disaster risk management are also significant areas of cooperation. With this in mind, Japan has recently funded the creation of the Pacific Climate Change Center in Samoa, which opened in September 2019. Its purpose is to provide training for around 1,400 people a year from across the Pacific in areas of climate resilience, adaptation, and mitigation.

While in recent years China’s increased investment in the Pacific has grabbed most of the headlines, according to the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Aid Map, Japan’s investments in the region match those of China for capital expenditure. However, it is notable that Japan has a much broader scope of engagement, being involved in 874 projects throughout the Pacific, compared to China’s 77. China’s focus seems to be on big ticket items that can generate headlines, whereas Japan has deeper ties, working on nuanced issues that can improve technical expertise, as well as areas of health and well-being.

Japan’s investments in the Pacific were noted at the PALM8 meeting to be part of its broad Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, designed to maintain regional norms that have worked in Japan’s favor against attempts by China to realign norms toward Beijing’s desires. Japan frequently describes its aid investments as “quality infrastructure development,” a subtle signal that Chinese investment may not be of the same high standard. Tokyo has also expressed concern about the loans China is offering Pacific Island countries, fearing that these could be used for leverage.

At this stage, the plan for PALM9 is to be an in-person event in Japan, but, of course, this may rely heavily on the state of the pandemic in the coming months,and whether a vaccine is available for distribution early next year. Even if this event is possible the agenda looks set to be dominated by the response to the pandemic, with Pacific Island countries needing to economically re-establish themselves, as well as seek ways to create greater resilience to potential major shocks in the future. Japan’s commitment to positive and constructive relationships through the Pacific will be of critical importance for the region.