The Japan Forum for Strategic Studies (JFSS), the Institute for European Studies (IES), and the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies are organising the joint seminar “Northeast Asia’s Security Environment: Focus on the Rule of Law and Regional Order”.
At this seminar, panelists will mainly discuss issues related to territorial disputes involving Japan. The discussions will also focus on comparing experiences with territorial disputes in Europe, as well as on the rule of law and developments related to regionalism in East Asia.
The ongoing territorial disputes in the Northeast Asian region constitute significant hurdles to resolving tensions. There are many challenges such as North Korea's nuclear and missile development, contested ownership of the Takeshima Island, the Senkaku Islands, and the islands of Minami-kojima, Kita-kojima, and Uotsuri, which are contested by China, Taiwan and South Korea.
Territorial disputes are not foreign to Europe, such as Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Many territorial disputes have caused recurring tensions on the continent and have been tackled in a variety of ways. This seminar aims to discuss the present state of the territorial issues and the changing security environment in Northeast Asia, with an eye on the experiences in Europe. The organizers of this seminar hope that such a discussion will lead to insights that will contribute to identifying avenues towards easing tensions in NortheastAsia’s security environment.
8:30 - 9:00 Registration and Coffee
9:00 - 9:05 Opening Address: HE Hajime Hayashi, Ambassador of Japan to Belgium and to NATO
9:05 - 9:20 Keynote Speech: Mitsuo Sakaba, Advisor to JFSS & Member of the Public Security
Assesment Commission of Japanese Government
9:20 - 10:50 Session One: Security Environment and Territorial Disputes in Northeast Asia
Moderator: Dimitri Vanoverbeke, Professor,Leuven Center for Global Governance Studies, KUL
Panelists:
- Masahiro Akiyama, President, Akiyama Associates. Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the Takeshima Island issue.
- Keiichiro Komatsu, President, Komatsu Research & Advisory in London. The Crimea Incident and Deprivation of Territory by Force.
- Susumu Takai, Executive Director, JFSS. Tensions between Japan and China in the East China Sea.
- Osamu Onoda, Lt. General, Japan Air Self Defense Force (ret.). China’s Military Buildup and its Implication.
10:50 - 11:15 Coffee Break
11:15 - 12:45 Session Two: Implications of a Deteriorating Security Environment in Northeast
Asia for Europe and the U.S.
Moderator: Luis Simon, Professor, Institute for European Studies, VUB
Panelists:
- Alessio Patalano, Reader, King’s College of London. Implications of the Security Environment in Northeast Asia for the UK and NATO.
- Eva Pejsova, Senior Analyst, EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS). Implications of Deteriorating Security Environment in Northeast Asia for Europe.
- James Kraska, Professor and Chair, U.S. Naval War College. Northeast Asian security issues for the U.S.
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Tomohiko Satake, Senior researcher, Japan Institute of Defense Studies. Can Europe Contribute to Northeast Asian Security? A View from Japan.
12:45 - 12:50 Closing Remarks: Mitsuo Sakaba
13:00 – 14:30 Networking Lunch
