Asia in the Pacific: India, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea's statecraft in the Pacific Islands
Date
2024
Authors
Wallis, J.
Le, C.
Yeong, A.J.-L.
Editors
Wallis, J.
McNeill, H.
Rose, M.
Tidwell, A.
McNeill, H.
Rose, M.
Tidwell, A.
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Book chapter
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Power and Influence in the Pacific Islands: Understanding Statecraftiness, 2024 / Wallis, J., McNeill, H., Rose, M., Tidwell, A. (ed./s), Ch.10, pp.155-171
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Joanne Wallis, Chloe Le, Alexander Jun-Li Yeong
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Abstract
This chapter analyses four of the most prominent Asian partner states developing their engagement in the Pacific Islands region: India, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea. India, Japan, and South Korea held bilateral summits with Pacific leaders in 2023, and Indonesia has longstanding relationships in the region, particularly by virtue of its associate membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group. This chapter begins by analysing what strategic interests are motivating these Asian partner states to enhance their focus on the region, before outlining what tools of statecraft they are deploying, and how they are cooperating (or not) with others. It concludes by arguing that while India, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea each have unique reasons for their interest in the region, they are primarily motivated by their strategic concerns about China's increasing assertiveness and their perceived need to be seen to be responding throughout the entire Indo-Pacific region, and in Indonesia's case, by its interest in circumventing the independence aspirations of West Papua.
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© Taylor & Francis, 2024. This chapter has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND license.