Japan aims to refocus its foreign aid on maritime, economic security, national interests

Japan approved a major revision to its development aid policy on June 9 to focus on maritime- and economic security and its national interests while helping developing nations overcome compound challenges amid China’s growing global influence.

Japan approved a major revision to its development aid policy on June 9 to focus on maritime- and economic security and its national interests while helping developing nations overcome compound challenges amid China's growing global influence.

The revision to the Development Cooperation Charter, approved by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet, comes two years early since the last was in 2015 and updates are usually on a 10-year cycle. That underscores the sense of urgency in addressing widening China concern and other global challenges such as the impact of Russia's war on Ukraine.

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Japan in December adopted a new National Security Strategy, setting a goal of doubling defence spending to 43 trillion yen ($310 billon) over the next five years to fund a military build-up. That means Japan, with fiscal conditions already tight, must use development aid more effectively and strategically.

Under the new security strategy, Japan's Foreign Ministry has launched Official Security Assistance, or OSA, for the militaries of developing nations primarily in the Indo-Pacific region and is likely to provide Japanese-made, non-lethal equipment such as radars, antennas, small patrol boats or improvements of infrastructure such as ports.

Ministry officials say that's different from assistance under the Development Cooperation Charter, which sticks to non-military cooperation and ensuring peace and prosperity, while focussing on human security as “a guiding principle." The Foreign Ministry in April had 571 billion yen ($4.1 billion) development aid for non-military purposes and, separately, two billion yen ($15.2 million) to help strengthen national security of the “like-minded” Indo-Pacific militaries.

Under the revised charter, Japan will prioritise measures to combat climate change, food and energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as strengthening maritime security, supply chain resiliency and digital transformation.