Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks about national security at the April 4 Lower House plenary session. (Koichi Ueda)

With China and Russia clearly in mind, the government will offer a new assistance program for developing nations that focuses on beefing up their defense equipment and infrastructure.

The announcement on April 5 that Japan will begin providing official security assistance is in line with various moves from last year to bolster defense spending over the next five years.

One expert said discussions in the Diet would be vital since the new assistance would be linked to military support.

Ken Endo, a professor of international politics at the University of Tokyo, said, “The government’s guidelines provide no specific details about the reasons support will be provided to certain nations.”

He added that individual cases should be assessed strictly because the equipment provided could be used for other purposes if the recipient nation ends up in a military conflict or experiences a change in government.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other officials have repeatedly touched upon the increasingly tense security environment surrounding Japan, including the various military moves being made by China, North Korea’s development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In addition to a major defense buildup, including the acquisition of the capability to strike at enemy bases preparing to launch a missile attack on Japan, officials decided that supporting like-minded nations with defense equipment would also supplement that defense spending.

The support will be used to bring about a free and open Indo-Pacific region that has also been a national security goal.

As such, the nations being projected as the initial recipients of the official security assistance--the Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Fiji--all share concerns about the maritime advances being made by China in neighboring waters.

The assistance will likely provide those nations with intelligence-gathering and surveillance equipment.

The assistance will be within the limits set by Japan regarding the export of defense equipment and international agreements will also be signed with the recipient nations to ensure that the equipment will not be used for other purposes or sold to a third party.

But with plans within the ruling coalition to begin discussions later this month on revising the three principles for the export of defense equipment, the official security assistance in the future could be expanded over a wider range.

Some lawmakers within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are calling for changes in the defense export principles to allow for the overseas sales of fighter jets and destroyers.

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