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Although Japan is generally hesitant to adopt aggressive positions in Asia's political affairs, especially in those activities involving the use of force, it has taken a leading role in eradicating maritime piracy. Japanese proposals envisioning active multinational cooperation met with little enthusiasm among the Southeast Asian states, but less ambitious bilateral approaches have enjoyed relative success. This article discusses the causes of the Japanese anti-piracy initiatives and the Singaporean, Indonesian, and Malaysian responses. The Japanese motivations include comprehensive security concerns, the perception of Japan as a piracy victim, and a range of institutional interests. Singapore, possessing interests closely aligned with those of Japan, has been most receptive. Indonesia has been the least receptive because it places low priority on fighting piracy and sees cooperation as relatively costly. Malaysia has engaged in moderate cooperation, but as the value it places on cooperation increases, Malaysia is becoming more favourable towards Japanese proposals.
Introduction
Maritime piracy concerns many nations, but it particularly alarms Japan, a state vitally dependent on the flow of resources through the pirate-infested waters of Southeast Asia. Although Japan possesses highly capable maritime forces, its constitution restricts the Self Defence Forces (SDF) from operating as a traditional military. Moreover, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG), not part of the SDF, is also restrained by antimilitarist prohibitions. However, since the mid-1990s concern over the piracy threat has triggered changes in Japan's outlook and led it to initiate significant efforts aimed at leading a regional effort to cooperatively eradicate piracy in Southeast Asia. Japan's initiatives have met with mixed success. The most radical ideas, proposals which envisioned standing ocean-peacekeeping fleets conducting multinational patrols in both territorial and international waters, made very little progress. However, at a bilateral level, Japanese initiatives have been quite successful. For example, the JCG has conducted joint training exercises with six Southeast Asian states and Japanese aid programmes have trained and equipped forces in all of the coastal states.
Focusing on the political, law enforcement, and military programmes adopted by states, this article examines the formulation of Japan's anti-piracy initiatives and the responses of Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia to those initiatives. The first section describes the nature of Southeast Asian maritime piracy and its significance to Japan. The second section examines the factors...