Recommnendations for the 9th PALM 2021
1. At the 8th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM) in 2018, the issues regarding Pacific island nations and maritime security were clearly presented in the framework of the Indo-Pacific vision, guided by the geopolitical concept not only of the Pacific island nations, but of the Security Diamond led by Japan and including U.S.A., Australia and India, and also many other countries including U.K. and France.
Japan's leadership was not an empty gesture, but was strongly supported by all Japan's practical moves throughout the area and its small island nations.
2. It is also highly commendable that Japan is advancing the maritime security and cyber-security in the Indo-Pacific region, the creation of space operations corps, and the development of a security-conscious economic infrastructure in collaboration with those countries that share the same values.
3. On the other hand, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands shifted their diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China last September, and thousands of passports were sold to Chinese in Vanuatu, some of which were passed on to individuals with criminal records who engaged in trafficking offences in Palau. The impact of all this concerns Japan. Corruption of island society is affecting children on the islands involved in trafficking and drug addiction. We must not forget the incident in which a female American lawyer in her thirties was shot dead by an islander in Yap in October 2019. She had been fighting to protect the human rights of the women and youths in Yap.
Pacific Islands Leaders and President Xi of PRC
4. In order to address these issues, the Indo-Pacific Studies Group supports the "compact" idea with the Pacific Islands that Australia National University intelligence expert Professor John Blaxland has proposed to the Australian Government. In line with this idea, Japan, as a maritime nation, should actively support Australia's island nations support system and those political ties (free coalition, friendship agreement, etc.) formed by U.S.A., New Zealand and France with the Pacific islands.
5. The PALM is a meeting between Japan and the PIF started in 1997. The governments of the island countries share the same functional limitations, especially in regards to national security. In view of the reality of security and the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region, non-PIF members such as U.S.A., France, U.K. and India should be encouraged to participate as observers while respecting the sovereign rights of the island countries. We believe the airspace and the sea of the Indo-Pacific are vast enough to accomodate even those great powers.
6. The strategic importance of an all-Japan system promoted by Kentaro Sonoura, a member of the House of Representatives in Japan, can’t be overemphasized. It is no exaggeration to state that Japan's defeat in the previous World War was a disastrous result of sectionalism. The Japanese government needs to promote the active exchange of human resources among ministries, not prioritizing the interests of each ministry, and the cooperation of the three Sea Powers: MSDF, Japan Coast Guard, Japan Fisheries Agency. In particular, since the threat of China will require that security be a more important issue, human resource exchanges among land-sea-air forces should be promoted by involving the Ministry of Defence as well as fostering exchanges with allies.
7. Currently, the Government of Japan has embassies in Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands along with consulates in the U.S.. territory of Guam, Mariana Islands, and Hawaii. We strongly recommend they be obligated to transmit information using SNS, thus strengthening the information strategy.
8. On May 7, 2020, an Executive Order was issued to support the revival of the U.S. fishing industry. It addresses the protection of the U.S. industry with the world's largest EEZ, securing safe food, deregulation, transparent policy processes, and also international cooperation. Hawaii's fishing industry was pioneered by Japanese immigrants. Japan, which is still responsible for the Indo-Pacific fishery, should work with U.S.A. to strengthen its economic security. In particular, control of illegal fishery operations will strengthen maritime security against China, which is taking advantage of the Coronavirus calamity to advance into the Pacific. The Government of Japan should promptly discontinue its support for the scientifically unfounded Our Ocean project begun during the Obama administration.
1 June 2020
Indo-Pacific Studies
Petitioners (in no particular order)
Prof. Akio Watanabe (Emeritus, Univ. of Tokyo)
Fr. Francis X. Hezel (Founder & ex-Director, Micronesian Seminar NGO)
David Ware (Retired Customs Officer/Analyst, Intel Focus on Pacific, Border & National Security)
Satoshi Sakakibara (Deputy Chief Editorial Writer, Sankei Shimbun)
Michio Ezaki (Writer, Policy Analyst)
Yosuke Naito (Socio-postal Historian, Writer)
Kobo Inamura (Former Vice Chairman , Japan Post)
Yasushi Asaoka
Joji Sawama (Director, Nippon Kaiyou-Juku NPO)
Shinichiro Shimokawara
Kouyou Itou
Itaru Kaminari
Kiyoshi Takabatake
Miho Hagino
Rie Sotta
Hideaki Kido
Hung-Wei Shu (PhD scholar, Hokkaido University)
Yayoi Shiga
Dr. Rieko Hayakawa (Otago University)
Translated by Yasushi Asaoka, edited by Fr. Francis Hezel
