Key facts
- Japan is expanding security cooperation with Southeast Asian nations.
- Japan's security assistance program budget more than doubled to $114 million in fiscal 2026.
- Japan revised its defense equipment export policy in April, permitting lethal equipment transfers.
- Japan plans to transfer five retired destroyers to the Philippines.
Japan is increasingly expanding security cooperation with Southeast Asian nations to bolster their capabilities amid China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. Analysts caution, however, that defense cooperation may not automatically lead to strategic alignment due to varying national priorities across the region. Japan views the current international situation as the most severe since World War II and seeks to strengthen cooperation with like-minded partners to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific. A key pillar of this effort is the official security assistance framework, launched in 2023, which provides defense-related equipment and supplies to partner countries to enhance their security and self-reliance.