Japan to Hold Justice Minister Meeting with Central Asian Nations Next Year with Aim of Upholding Rule of Law

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:06 JST, August 4, 2025

The government is making final arrangements for the first-ever meeting of justice ministers from Japan and the five Central Asian countries in 2026.

As China and Russia are increasing their influence in the region, the government aims to uphold values such as the rule of law and respect for basic human rights.

In late July, Japan signed a memorandum of understanding in the justice sector with Fiji, the first such agreement with a Pacific island nation. The government is now planning to make more efforts in judicial diplomacy.

The Central Asian countries expected to join the meeting are Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki visited Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in late April to May and agreed with the justice ministers of the five countries to establish a new framework for dialogue.

A meeting of justice ministers is expected to be held next spring or at a later convenient time to confirm the regularization of the meetings and discuss cooperation measures such as support for legal system development and training judicial personnel.

Central Asia, which is rich in natural resources, is a geopolitically important region due to being between China and Russia. Historically, it has been strongly influenced by China and Russia, and nations in the region have often had authoritarian leaders in power for extended lengths of time.

Through judicial cooperation with the five countries, the government will try to spread the rule of law to stabilize the countries and strengthen their relations with Japan. The United States has also been eager to strengthen ties with Central Asia. In September 2023, then U.S. President Joe Biden held a summit meeting with the leaders of the five countries for the first time. Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also planned a summit with them last August.

Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry signed the cooperation agreement with Fijian Justice Ministry on Thursday last week. The ministries in both countries will promote exchanges between senior officials and cooperate with each other on issues such as speeding up trials and judicial digitalization in Fiji.

China is making its presence felt in Pacific island nations by investing huge amounts on infrastructure funding and promoting law enforcement cooperation. Countries in the area are strategically located along the sea lane from Australia, which brings resources and food, to Japan and the United States. Through judicial cooperation, the Japanese government hopes to help stabilize the political situation and strengthen ties with the island nations.

In July 2023, the government held a special justice minister-level meeting with member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was part of the government’s efforts to reinforce judicial cooperation with the Global South.