In the first half of this month, dialogue on security issues progressed in the Indo-Pacific region, and cooperation and collaboration were reaffirmed. The Minister of Defense of Japan, attending the Asia Security Summit (Shangri-La Dialogue), held separate meetings with his counterparts from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the United Kingdom to exchange views on regional situations and defense cooperation. In his speech, the Minister denied the view that Japan is treading the path of militarism, while strictly criticizing China's large-scale possession and reinforcement of its nuclear capabilities and strategic bombers.

Meanwhile, multiple new unilateral actions by China were observed in the region, including attempts to create a fait accompli regarding its unilateral jurisdictional claims and coercive maritime expansion. Reacting against the announcement of the commencement of formal negotiations between Japan and the Philippines to delimit the maritime boundary of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf, China dispatched government vessels to the waters east of Taiwan and conducted patrol activities such as inspecting merchant ships and conducting hydrographic surveys (which Taiwan condemned as a provocative act and cognitive warfare). In connection with this, when Chinese Coast Guard vessels navigated through Japan’s EEZ south of Okinawa Prefecture, China claimed for the first time that the area was “under Chinese jurisdiction.” In addition, the installation of a new floating structure by China was confirmed within the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.