BERNAMA - Japan, ASEAN Defence Officials To Discuss Security Issues

[Giuseppe]

BERNAMA - Japan, ASEAN Defence Officials To Discuss Security Issues

Japan, ASEAN Defence Officials To Discuss Security Issues

TOKYO, March 12 (Bernama) --

Japan who will host the first security meeting for senior defence ministers on March 17, will explore non-military security issues such as natural disasters and bird flu epidemic, Kyodo News cited the Defence Ministry as saying.


The meeting will be participated by Japan and ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member countries in Tokyo, will be chaired by Japanese Vice Defence Minister Kohei Masuda.

The conference, dubbed the "Meeting of Senior Defence Officials on Common Security Challenges in the Asia-Pacific Region," will also witness bilateral meetings between Masuda and his counterparts from Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore is also scheduled during the meeting.

"Relations between Japan and ASEAN have always focused on the economy. So we hope to move them up to a higher level and start to build confidence from an area that is less likely to meet resistance,'' a senior ministry official was quoted as saying in a briefing.

ASEAN is consisted of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

-- BERNAMA
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<cite cite="http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=395791">BERNAMA - Japan, ASEAN Defence Officials To Discuss Security Issues</cite>

[Commonground]

Re: BERNAMA - Japan, ASEAN Defence Officials To Discuss Security Issues

Interesting. Japan just got done meeting with the WHO.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

International conference: WHO to gather and analyze pandemic influenza cases (March 3)

The World Health Organization (WHO) started on March 3rd in Fukuoka Japan, an international conference to discuss novel influenza which causes fears of a worldwide pandemic.

WHO stated that once an outbreak was confirmed, it would try to determine and announce morbidity and mortality of the new virus by analyzing the first hundred cases.

WHO called for cooperation from participating countries.

The conference will continue until the 6th.
-snip-

[SuperNova1987A]

Re: BERNAMA - Japan, ASEAN Defence Officials To Discuss Security Issues

Japanese Ministry of defense put up the following meeting agenda on its HP.
The Asahi Shibun, a Japanese major newspaper, also reports that: the ministry wishes to make this meeting annual and they will discuss, as ‘mutual’ security issues, rescue operations from natural disasters and counter-piracy and counter-terrorism operations in the Asia-Pacific region.
While there is no mention about the repatriation plan of Japanese at a flu pandemic, it is very likely that the ministry have it in its agenda because, as posted by Muscade on Feb 12 in Post 18 of Panasonic forum, JSDF recently announced its repatriation plan and to implement it, JSDF has to get full cooperation and support from the outbreak country. This meeting may be a first step for JSDF to ensure the repatriation plan.
(Actually when JSDF announced its repatriation plan at the beginning of February, I got an impression that its real purpose was more to secure JSDF’s 2009 budget because the 2009 budget bill was in the Diet at that time and the lawmakers were trying to cut all corners. Note: Japanese fiscal year start on April 1.)

Source: http://www.mod.go.jp/j/news/2009/03/12c.html
<B>HIGH-CLASS WORKING LEVEL MEETING OF DEFENCE AUTHORITIES AND THE FIRST TOKYO SEMINAR ON MUTUAL SECURITY ISSUES IN ASIA-PACIFIC REGION</B>
March 12, 2009
Ministry of Defence

1. Defense Authorities High-class Working-level Meeting on Mutual Security Issues in Asia-Pacific Region
(1) Purpose
A high-class working level of the defense authorities of each ASEAN country is invited to our country, to have a frank disscussion on the subject on the regional security, and build a close human relation. This time is the first meeting of this kind.

(2) Schedule and a place
March 17 (Tue.) 0930-1200
Keio Plaza Hotel (Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku)

(3) Chairperson
Kohei Masuda, Vice-Minister of Defense

(4) Participant
A high-class working level officers of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam (Myanmar under arrangement)

(5) Bilateral talks etc. being arranged after the meeting.
Afternoon March 17: meeting with Mr. Majid, Brunei’s Deputy Secretary of Defense
Meeting with Mr. Shafri, Indonesian Deputy Secretary of Defense
Courtesy call from Mr. Anh, Singapore’s vice ministrer of national-defense

2. 1st Tokyo Seminar on Mutual Security Issues
(1) Purpose
Experts and defense officers will be invited to discuss:
1) Mutual Security Issues in the region,
2) Measures to promote regional cooperation for the mutual issues, and
3) Defense authority’s role and action for the regional cooperation,
in order to improve environment for security and to encorage dialogs and cooperations in the region. This is the first of such seminars.

(2) Schedule and a place
Wednesday, March 18
Keio Plaza Hotel (Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku)

(3) Program
0945 Opening address
1000 Session 1
"The mutual security issues of the region and the action for promoting regional cooperation"
1300 Session 2
"Correspondence as the defense authorities for promotion of local cooperation"
1500 Conclusion

(4) Chairperson
Tadashi Nishihara, Chairman of Institute for Peace and Security

(5) Panelists (tentative) (in alphabetic order)
(Overseas)
- Barry Desker, Director, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Techonological University, Singapore.
- Mohamed JAWHAR Hassan, Chairman and CEO of The Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia.
- Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
- Antonio C. Santos, Jr., Undersecretary for. Defense Affairs, Department of National Defense, the Philippines
- Yusuf Wanandi, President, Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Indonesia.

(Japan)
- Akashi Yasushi, chairman of Japanese Center for Conflict Prevention.
- Masahiro Akiyama, Chairman of the Ocean Policy Research Foundation
- Koichi Isobe, vice-commander, Central Reflex Group (international affairs), JSDF
- Kohei Masud, Vice-Minister of Defense
- Takashi Shiroishi, vice president, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
- Seiichiro Takagi professor, Aoyama Gakuin University


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SN1987A