TOKYO – Japan has much to contribute to regional security, and Singapore is happy to deepen cooperation with Tokyo to promote peace and stability, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Dec 17.

This includes welcoming Japan Self-Defence Forces aircraft and vessels to stop over and make port calls in Singapore, he said.

PM Lee was speaking at a commemorative summit held in Tokyo to mark 50 years of Japan-Asean relations, during a session that took stock of a half-century of ties and discussed the current state of regional affairs.

The meeting at The Okura Tokyo hotel was attended by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and leaders of South-east Asian countries except Myanmar, which was not invited due to its military coup d’etat.

At their bilateral meeting on Dec 16, PM Lee and Mr Kishida also discussed deeper defence cooperation and exchanges, according to read-outs by Singapore’s and Japan’s foreign ministries that provided no further details.

There are regular exchanges between the Singapore navy and its Japanese counterpart. For instance, in April 2023, they held a passage exercise in international waters in the lower reaches of the South China Sea.

Addressing leaders at the Dec 17 summit, PM Lee said Japan and Asean should work together to promote a “stable, open and inclusive regional and international order, based on the rule of law”.

Singapore, which takes over as the Asean-Japan dialogue relations coordinator from Thailand in July 2024, will do its part to “take forward Japan’s engagement of the region”, he said.

Japan’s contributions have become more urgent, given the threats to peace and stability, PM Lee added.

“Major-power tensions raise the risk of mishaps and escalations in regional flashpoints such as in the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait and East China Sea,” he said.

Other threats include Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which violates the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter, as well as North Korea’s nuclear programme.

On North Korea, Singapore has consistently condemned its ballistic missile launches.

Singapore also supports Japan’s and the international community’s efforts to completely denuclearise the Korean Peninsula, including by co-sponsoring an annual International Atomic Energy Agency general conference resolution to implement safeguards on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty with North Korea, PM Lee said.

He added that Singapore supports Japan’s efforts to resolve the abduction issue, with Tokyo demanding full accountability from Pyongyang over the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.

Japan, he said, has been an important partner on multilateral platforms such as the Asean Regional Forum, East Asia Summit, and the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus).

Among the many areas of Japan-Asean cooperation are maritime security, cyber and information security, and chemical, biological and radiological defence, PM Lee pointed out.

Japan has supported the region in tackling maritime piracy and will co-chair with the Philippines an experts’ working group on maritime security under the ADMM-Plus framework from 2024 onwards.

Despite the close ties between Japan and Asean today, relations were fraught 50 years ago.

Distrust was rife amid the Cold War while antipathy towards Japan was strong, with World War II in recent memory.

In 1973, trade tensions were high, as Japan’s synthetic rubber exports threatened to cannibalise Asean’s natural rubber industry.

This paved the way for the establishment of formal dialogue channels, including a Synthetic Rubber Forum in 1973 to help soothe trade tensions.

Four years later, Japan committed to peace, friendship and equal partnership with Asean under the Fukuda Doctrine, which was named after then leader Takeo Fukuda.

PM Lee said it “launched Japan’s instrumental role in the growth of the region”.

“Since then, Japan has stood by Asean’s side through difficult periods, such as the Asian financial crisis and the more recent Covid-19 pandemic,” he recounted.

More recently, Japan was the first dialogue partner to issue a statement with Asean to reaffirm the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, which sets out four key areas: maritime, economy, connectivity and sustainable development.

PM Lee said there is potential for Japan and Asean to actively cooperate across the four key areas, noting that Tokyo’s pledge of US$100 million (S$133.4 million) to the Japan-Asean Integration Fund 3.0, launched in April 2023, will help bring projects to fruition.

This follows previous editions of the fund, launched in 2006 and 2013, that had different areas of focus.

The sum of money, PM Lee said, will help “bring about Asean’s vision of an open regional architecture with omnidirectional cooperation”.

In September, ahead of their semi-centennial, Asean and Japan upgraded their relations to that of the highest-tier Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

“Japan has been a steadfast friend and partner to the region for over five decades,” PM Lee said.

“There is great scope for Asean and Japan to work together in addressing the challenges of the day.”