Defense Minister Nakatani Calls for Greater Cooperation in Shangri-La Dialogue Address; Rules-Based Order Being ‘Hollowed out’

By Hirotaka Kuriyama / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

17:22 JST, May 31, 2025

SINGAPORE — Defense Minister Gen Nakatani gave an address at the Asia Security Summit in Singapore on Saturday in which he emphasized the importance of defense cooperation among Indo-Pacific countries and laid out a new cooperative framework.

At the summit, which is also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, Nakatani also spoke about promoting cooperation between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United States, Australia and India, with China in mind.

“The rules-based international order is rapidly being hollowed out,” Nakatani said.

Nakatani’s address took place in the context of such factors as Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and China’s move to ignore a 2016 decision by the Arbitral Tribunal and strengthen its effective control of the South China Sea.

The defense minister expressed concern that “rapid military buildups, including of nuclear weapons, and provocative military actions are on the rise” and said that such moves are “large obstacles in maintaining a trustful relationship in security.”

On the other hand, Nakatani welcomed ASEAN’s expanded role in security, as well as the strengthening of the Japan-U.S. alliance and cooperation between Japan, the United States, Australia and the Philippines, calling such moves “encouraging.”

The cooperative framework that Nakatani proposed, which calls on the countries with common values and interests to expand their cooperation, is dubbed OCEAN (One Cooperative Effort Among Nations).

He said that it is important for “the defense authorities of those countries to create synergy by strengthening their cooperation.”

In accordance with that principle, Nakatani said Japan will deepen its collaboration with ASEAN member countries through such assistance as improving their capabilities and transferring defense equipment to them. Japan, he said, would also deepen defense cooperation within the Japan-U.S.- South Korea and Japan-U.S.-Philippine trilateral groups.

“We should work to restore the rules-based international order,” Nakatani said. “Japan will stay at the center of moves aimed at that.”