Japan, Indonesia plan a joint warship amid China tensions at sea

Although details remain under wraps, experts speculate the design of the warship could draw on the advanced destroyers of Japan’s s Maritime Self-Defence Forces, retooled to meet Indonesia’s operational needs.

The collaboration, analysts say, signals Tokyo’s shift towards more strategic partnerships with Southeast Asian nations facing territorial disputes with Beijing.

“In the last two or three years, in a strategy laid out by [former] prime minister Fumio Kishida, Japan has been working to strengthen its alliances with like-minded countries, particularly countries in Southeast Asia, to create a coalition against the growing potential of China,” said Masayuki Masuda, director of Chinese studies at the National Institute of Defence Studies in Tokyo.

These partnerships align with Tokyo’s push for “more robust security cooperation”, Masuda told This Week in Asia.