The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan plans to offer security aid worth over US$34 million to six 'like-minded' countries, including Vietnam, in the next fiscal year, according to Japanese media.

The aid will be offered in official security assistance (OSA) “to help countries that share diplomatic and other goals improve warning and surveillance capabilities over their territories as well as in areas of anti-terrorism and anti-piracy,” Asahi Shimbun said on Monday.

Ministry officials are considering Vietnam, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Djibouti, and the Philippines as recipients in the 2024 fiscal year as they are all geopolitically important partners for Japan.

With a budget of about five billion yen ($34.2 million), the 2024 OSA is double the amount earmarked for four nations in the current fiscal year, the newspaper said.  

The OSA program will provide defense equipment, such as satellite communication systems, radar equipment and patrol boats, and offer other forms of aid, such as building ports for military-civilian use.

“‘A balance of power’ is necessary to coexist with China, not antagonize it,” Asahi Shimbun cited Tsutomu Kikuchi, a scholar of international politics and professor emeritus at Aoyama Gakuin University, as saying. 

The OSA will help encourage China to “exercise restraint and lead to peace and security in the region,” the scholar added.

In the 2023 fiscal year, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Fiji, and the Philippines are expected to receive such aid, and more than two billion yen ($13.7 million) has been allotted in the initial budget of the government. 

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