 Endowment for International Peace. It's my pleasure to welcome you at the event today entitled From Ocean of War to Ocean of Prosperity. It's our great pleasure and honor to welcome today Admiral Tomohisa Takei, Chief of Staff of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. I'm Thomas Carruthers, Vice President for Studies here at the Carnegie Endowment. As I think everyone in this room knows, heightened tensions in the South China Sea have greatly raised global awareness to a number of strategic issues relating to the Asian region. Continued instances of piracy, overlapping territorial claims, the construction of new islands, and other issues highlight deep structural issues in Asia that have existed since the end of the Cold War and are continuing to grow in complexity. Many questions I think are weighing on people's mind here in the Washington policy community, as well as in different Asian capitals about the future of the region. These include how to maritime tensions affect different nations, and what can be done to ensure the freedoms of the seas. What can countries do against transnational threats, such as piracy, to protect and ensure peace and economic prosperity? How does the US-Japan alliance factor into this situation? In particular, what can the alliance do now in the region, and what role will it play in the future? Carnegie is honored and delighted to have Admiral Takei with us today to answer these questions. In the course of a truly distinguished career, he has risen through the ranks of the Maritime Self Defense Force all the way to the very top of the ladder when he assumed the position last year as Admiral and Chief of Staff. In 2011, Admiral Takei received the Legion of Merit from the US Navy for, quote, his exceptional leadership and expertise in maturing and expanding the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force and US Navy partnerships. I am certain that his expertise and his experience will help us understand these complex issues. Admiral, welcome. You can finish your water. You can bring it up here. You will be speaking in English, and then later we will do the questions with the help of the transit. Thank you very much, Dr. Carthass. I feel a little bit relaxed because I can see many faces of my old friend. This time, the US Navy has officially invited me to Washington, DC. Since the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has kindly given me a precise opportunity to talk with the promising research fellows, I spent about 30% of the time before my departure from Japan in preparing note for this speech, and 20% in preparing for the dialogue with Admiral Greenert. For the rest of my time, 50%, my wife and I discussed how many dresses she should bring with me here in the United States. Today, the entitling my speech from Ocean of War to the Ocean of Prosperity, I will talk about the Japan-US alliance in the future, especially the Japan Maritime Defense Force, JMSDF, commitment based on the situation of the Indo-Pacific region. If we can say Japan's modernization started since the arrival of the East Indian Squadron of the US Navy, it dates back 162 years in July 1853. For Black Fligate commanded by Commodore Machu Perry, anchored near the entrance of Edo Bay or present Tokyo Bay, and he urged the Edo feudal government to open the country. It was Japan's first encounter with a modernized Western dynamism in 214 years since it closed the doors to the foreign countries in 1639. Since then, Japan started to work rapidly along a road to the modernization. At the same time, the road also meant to be the one which Eastern dynamism and Western dynamism collided against each other. For the next 100 years, the Western Pacific was ocean of war, in which two dynamism fought against each other until the war between Japan and the allies ended by the treaty of peace with Japan, taking effect in 1952 after several wars, including the Russo-Japanese War. The Maritime Guard, the predecessor of the JMSDF, was established on April 26, 1952 with four patrol frigates and two large landing ships on loan from the US Navy and its own 17 mine sweepers. 63 years had passed since the establishment, and now the JMSDF has high end capability, both in quality and quantity, second only to the US Navy. The two navies bounded by the deep trust and the strong ties of friendship under the Japan-US Security Treaty, a cornerstone of maritime security in the Western Pacific. However, the two navies who had once fought bitterly against each other in the Pacific Ocean needed to make effort to understand each other until the present close relationship was established. We often say the brave man knows other brave men. When the eighth chief of staff, JMSDF Admiral Kazutomi Uchida, who once served as an imperial Japanese Navy, studied at US Naval War College after the end of the war, he visited to see the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, DC. Seeing soldiers of the memorial, his shed tears finding US soldiers had also suffered a lot as a Japanese soldier did. The US name is Admiral Arley Burke, who made a significant contribution to the establishment of JMSDF, had a negative sentiment against Japanese people early in his duty days, Japan as a US occupation forces personnel. However, through exchanges with the former imperial Japanese Navy admirals, whom he had once fought against during the war, he gradually opened his heart to them. It is said that Admiral Burke was laid to rest in a cemetery with a single decoration awarded by the Japanese emperor on his chest, according to his will, though he had received many decorations from other countries in his life. These stories tell us both the JMSDF and US Navy have had a hard time and worked on the road together for the last decades. The road has been completely the same as the one which the two countries have changed the Western Pacific from ocean of war into ocean of peace. The presence of the United States covering from the Western Pacific to the Indian Ocean has led the dynamism in the Indo-Pacific region to independence, modernization, and economic growth. The wave of the economic development, which initially arose in Japan, spread to South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and finally made Southeast Asia, including China, develop into the center of the economic growth of the world. The wave of economic development has also reached into the Indian Ocean. It is estimated the Indo-Pacific region will make up 50% of the world population and 50% of GDP by the year of 2030. The global economic center of the gravity, which shifted from the Atlantic to the Western Pacific, will move to the Indo-Pacific in future without doubt. The Western Pacific, which was once ocean of war, become ocean of peace after the end of the World War II, and it is ocean of prosperity, which is leading the world economy, then it will not be long before the Indo-Pacific. The area which includes the Indian Ocean as well as the Western Pacific becomes ocean of prosperity. Japan's Prime Minister Abe mentioned in his essay Asia's Democratic Security Diamond released in 2012 that peace, stability, and freedom of navigation in the Pacific Ocean are inseparable from peace, stability, and freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean. As he said, even though the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific are geographically separated, they are so closely related that they cannot be separated both politically and economically. Therefore, we need to regard security in each of these two oceans as identical. The sea line stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Western Pacific is an economic highway to convey energy and goods necessary to the growth and development of the region. Every day, oil tanker whose full load, its placement over 300,000 tons navigates the Indian Ocean to and from East and West. And large-sized container ship whose length over the 350 meters loading multi-national containers navigate back and forth between main ports of the harbors. In the Philippines, there are sailor's training institutions sponsored by Japanese commercial ship companies where the local young people study hearts to make their dreams of becoming sailors come true. It is no longer uncommon that the commercial ship industry deal with multi-national fleet and sailor's and transportation organization are internationalized. Although the Indo-Pacific is the center of the economic growth of the world, the region still includes some countries which are weak in the economic infrastructures. The Asian financial crisis beginning in Thailand in 1997 spread to the entire Southeast Asia. In the Indo-Pacific region, there underlies the risk that the similar crisis can occur again as a result of economic turmoil in one country. In order to prevent such risks from rising to the surface, we have to continue leading regional dynamism to stable economic development. As a prerequisite for this, the ocean of Indo-Pacific region must be always open and stable for freedom of navigation so that free maritime trade is ensured at all times. That is to say, in order to make the Indo-Pacific ocean of prosperity, we need to further develop the regional maritime security with much greater effort of multi-national frameworks beyond each country's own interest, ever than before. In recent years, however, in the ocean of this region have been lying some challenges that we must cope with. The first one is a transnational threat of the land, our effective maritime securities. In the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, ships and aircraft of the coalition navies from around the world are engaged in escorting commercial vessels. Thanks to these countries' effort, the number of piracy has sharply decreased in the past years. However, the constructing the domestic situation in Somalia seems far from realization because of the interference of the Islamic militant group, though the reconstruction is necessary to eradicate the root cause of the piracy. The port of Aden in the Republic of Yemen, located on the port side of the Gulf of Somalia, was one of the candidate port for the Japanese anti-multi-development forces supply base six years ago. But the port city is chaotic due to a mix of domestic political turmoil, Islamic militant groups' activities and other national and transnational threat. It is no longer a safe place for any ships to make a port hole on. Yemen was a geographical advantage of taking control of straight above El Mandev, a choke point connecting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Therefore, the countries around the world need to regard not only the piracy, but also the situation in Yemen at the risk of maritime security in the western Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, in the South China Sea, neighboring countries are facing new challenges which are difficult to deter in a traditional way in addition to traditional threats such as piracy and armed robbery around the Maracas Strait and the other archipelagos. A distinct example is the land reclamation activity supported by the maritime law enforcement organizations at coral reefs in the contested area of South China Sea. Since both countries in the western Pacific are maritime nations, steady economic growth is inevitably followed by modernization and reinforcement of other neighbor power, of their neighbor power. Especially for maritime nations, neighbor power is an essential element of their national power to maintain their independence without being underestimated by other countries. Neighbor power as well as the Maritime Law Enforcement Organization is an important enabler to ensure maritime security. Therefore, the building, build up the neighbor power itself should not be denied. However, are certain countries national defense policy including reinforcement of neighbor power with poor transparency? Possibly induces a sense of anxiety and the distress amongst its neighboring countries. Furthermore, the problem between countries must be solved by peaceful means under international law and norms. If one country ignores this and impose its own unilateral interpretation of international law on its neighboring countries, freedom of navigation, which is vitally indispensable for ocean of prosperity can be threatened and an expected incident at sea can be occurred as a result. International law is a consent-based and this means that any entity is not of rigid to abide by it. In order to country the state practice secured by international law, national law and maritime law enforcement organizations, even though the practice is based on the country's own unilateral interpretation of international law, traditional deterrence, which is combination of a nuclear capability and conventional capability is not considered to function effectively. Because the threshold of the use of such capability is too high. Nevertheless, if related countries overlook it, the similar practice can spread to other areas in the world and threaten the existing international order which has secured peace and stability in the world. Professor Nicholas Spikeman stressed the strategic importance of three Mediterranean seas in the world which connect five continents. The first is the Mediterranean Sea between Eurasian continent and African continent. And the second is the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico between North and South America. And third is the South China Sea and its neighboring waters in Southeast Asia connecting Eurasian continent and Australian continent. And it is likened to the Mediterranean Sea of Asia. The Roman Empire and the United States projected their maritime power to transform the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean Sea respectively into their inland sea, broadening their spread spheres of influence to their neighboring area, both politically and economically. China is making rapid progress in its land reclamation of the coral reefs of the Splattery Island in spite of related countries' oppositions. In case the reclaimed artificial island is used for the military purpose, the entire South China Sea can be covered by Chinese sphere of the military influence. The South China Sea is an economic center of the gravity of the Indo-Pacific where important sea lanes stretch to and from all directions in order to make the Indo-Pacific ocean of prosperity, it will be vitally important the South China Sea is free and open waters all the time. A problem which is newly arising in the South China Sea must be solved by the peaceful means and the international law so that the dispute will not be escalated into the armed conflict. Walter Mead mentioned that the conflict among great powers appearing in Europe and Asia recently over territory, sea lanes, continental shelves or rules over oceans. In order to avoid turning into the India, turning the Indo-Pacific into the ocean of war again and make it make it ocean of prosperity, what we can and should what we can and should the regional Navy do. First of all, each country must ensure a solid alliance or friendly relations with the United States. For example, the Japan and the US alliance to maintain the presence of the United States in the region. The US presence is required now and in the future for the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific regions since the US Navy is advancing the rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region. Each regional Navy needs to adapt itself to new strategic environment synchronized with the US rebalance and enhance its own naval power also in quality and quantity simultaneously. Since the end of the Cold War, each country has repeated the redefinition of alliance to avoid itself to a new strategic environment, to adapt itself to a new strategic environment. The countries have cooperated with each other to make commitment to global issues such as regional conflict rising in surface after the end of the Cold War and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Moreover, the 9-11 attacks which totally changed security environment in the world in 2001 became a trigger for countries all over the world to join international effort to fight against transnational threat. Also, the Japan-US alliance was no exception of this redefinition. In 2006, the two country leaders shared the view that they would work together to transform the alliance into the global one and redefined the alliance under which the two country would make corporate effort not only to maintain regional stability and prosperity, but also to respond to global challenges in coordination with international community. Furthermore, in April this year, the guidelines for Japan-US defense cooperation was revised for the first time in 18 years. The guidelines stipulate that two countries will further strengthen the Japan-US cooperation relationship in peacetime and play more important role in maintaining international peace and stability so that Japan-US alliance will be more effective than ever before. Japan's Prime Minister Abe called the alliance an alliance of hope in his recent address to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress saying that we must make the best cease stretching from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean into the cease of peace of freedom. We all follow the rule of the law. For that very reason, we must fortify the Japan-US alliance. Many of the challenges of the Indo-Pacific region regional security have occurred at sea. It is no exaggeration to say that the Japan-US alliance is a maritime alliance. I hope that GMSDF, as an anchor of the alliance, will enhance the interoperability with the U.S. Navy to help maintain the United States presence in the region. Secondly, the regional navies need to promote multilayered cooperation at sea. In the Western Pacific, we have had Navy-to-Navy network, the Western Pacific Naval Symposium, WPNS, for more than 27 years contributing to promoting mutual understanding and improving capabilities of the member of the country's navies. At first, I suggest the WPNS connected with the Indian Ocean, Naval Symposium, IONS, the network of the navies around the Indian Ocean, so that these two networks can cooperate to ensure the safety of maritime commands in the waters regarding from Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Now that independence between countries has globally closer natural economy but also in every field, a small local incident can exert a grave impact on the entire world on the following day. Therefore, it has been increasingly important for us to terminate the incident at sea concerning security before it become a crisis. The anchor has broadened coastal countries jurisdiction in the international waters. Each country's maritime law enforcement organization once engaged in the law enforcement in its coastal waters is now in charge of enforcing its jurisdiction in the EEZ to 100 nautical miles from the coast. So, the chances for each maritime law enforcement organization to have a contact with neighboring countries counterpart have been increasing. Steady economic development reinforces the maritime law enforcement organization as well. Large-sized coastal guards ship with similar equipment with navies have been commissioned recently. In contested area related to continental ships or seabed resources, maritime law enforcement organization face off for the jurisdiction against each other at first. When the situation escalated, it expected that Navy will finally appear. Therefore, promoting cooperation at sea should be applied to the navies as well as to the network of maritime law enforcement organization. In the Navy chief's conference of the last year's WPNS, the use of the code for unplanned encounter at sea, cues between Navy ships and aircraft has been adopted. As I mentioned, maritime security incident must be terminated before it becomes a crisis in the so-called phase zero. For this purpose, the member countries of navies need to share the weight of communication which is easier to understand each other without any misunderstanding. The biggest advantage of the cues is that the voice communication should be conducted by using the code without having a conversation. So the communication has become easier between any navies, even if their mother language are different. The cues cannot prevent the country from taking a deliberate action, but thanks to the cues, sailors are more relieved because they know that they can communicate with their foreign counterpart even in the limited way in case of unplanned encounter at sea. On this point, cues is much more effective than we have expected. Therefore, I hope that maritime law enforcement organization main actors in the phase zero will also apply the cues at the earliest possible time. Eight countries out of 21 WPNS member countries do not have maritime law enforcement organization so that navies of these eight countries are engaged in law enforcement. Applying the cues will be a good opportunity for both navies and maritime law enforcement organization to clear a barrier between them and collaborate with each other to achieve the common goal of maintaining the open and stable ocean. Sadly, what navies should do is capacity building. In order to ensure the maritime security, navy to navy close cooperation and collaboration are essential. It's necessary that each navy has a fundamental capability for self-help in principle, principle prior to joining international cooperation. The circle of multilateral cooperation can be broken apart from its weakest point because WPNS member countries, country navies are largely different in their capabilities. The members have been placing much importance on capacity building among its activities. Japan has been engaged in only human support, human support such as educating personnel or providing lecture or training courses so far. However, now the transfer of defense equipment and technology for maintaining international peace and safety is permitted, I believe that Japan will make both personal and material contribution toward capacity building. In a country experiencing rapid economic development, there is a tendency that nationalism is on the rise in proportion to the increase of country's national power. Pure nationalism becomes the people's energy to make the country further developed. However, in case the country collided with other countries regarding their vitally important national interest, such as the jurisdiction over territorial land and waters, the nationalism is often directed to outside the country and can cause an unexplained serious incident. As we can find in the history that the country is even once in a very close economic independence partnership fought against each other in the battle, we have to keep in mind that the world of international policy is too foggy to be forecast, even though we have highly advanced information technology in these modern times. In October 1520, a Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the straight of South America, which would be called the Straight of Magellan later on. It is said the name of Pacific Ocean came from the Latin word El Mare Pacificum, meaning Peaceful Ocean, because it was calm compared with a furious Atlantic Ocean. At this moment, three ships of the Japan Training Squadron with many newly commissioned ensign on board are heading south along east coast of South America, South American continent, to pass through the straight of Magellan in the end of the August. After passing through the straight, they will see the Pacific Ocean, which I believe will be a peaceful, as one Magellan encountered about 500 years ago. For 500 years since the encounter with Western civilization, the Pacific Ocean experienced peace only for a short period of time, although it has been on the periphery of the world history. In particular, the collision with the modern Europe has changed the Western Pacific into the ocean of war for many years. The Pacific Ocean has now become ocean of prosperity. However, its peace is counting on us to prevent the Pacific Ocean from reverting back to the ocean of war. And to keep the Pacific Ocean in peace for the years to come, we are expected to strengthen our cooperation and effort more than ever before. Thank you very much for your kind attention. The admiral will take some questions from the audience. I would encourage you, he's here on his visit in active military capacity. He's not a political figure or a politician in Japan, so please keep your questions in a sense directed towards the areas in which he's most expert. And we'd appreciate that. If you could also identify yourself, speak clearly, we are gonna be using translation, so please state your questions as clearly and concisely as possible, that would be useful. I'll just take questions one at a time and then maybe group them later. We have about 20 minutes or so. We'll finish promptly on time. Yes, sir, right here. Hold on, there's a microphone coming on your right shoulder. Admiral Sidney Friedberg from Breaking Defense, a journalistic organization. You said many times the Indo-Pacific Ocean. You referred to Southeast Asia, people normally think of Japan as a northern Pacific power. How would, what can Japan do in the South Pacific in India? What, how far can its navy reach? And who are your partners besides the United States in the South China Sea in the Indian Ocean? Thank you very much. The stability of the sea lanes from the West Pacific to the Indian Ocean is important not just for Japan, but for the world. So what can Japan do to assure the peace and stability of the seas? At the moment, the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force is conducting its actions in accordance with instructions from the government of Japan. One example I could give you is activities under the WPNS. And the other is anti-piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden. The WPNS was instituted as a proposal of the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Its membership is comprised of countries that border the Pacific Ocean, and interested countries can participate as observers. All countries are important for Japan and for the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. We don't take up particular countries. Thank you. Yes, I've got several here, so please be patient. And again, remember to introduce yourself, please. Thank you. A reporter from Voice America. And two weeks ago, I think, Mr. Admiral Kawano made a speech at CSIS at which he was saying that Japan is opening to the joint patrol in South China Sea with the United States. And one week ago at a South China Sea conference at CSIS, some experts mentioned that if Japan is going to join their patrol in South China Sea, it's definitely going to raise the tension there. So what of you here? Thank you. In the South China Sea, we have a number of police officers who are in charge of the patrol, so I'm not sure I'll be able to answer them. But it's important that all of the world's meetings are open and stable, so we're going to do our best to make sure that we're able to meet our needs. Activities related to warning and surveillance activities in the South China Sea are the purview of the Joint Staff Office, and therefore I will not answer that question, but I can say that it is certainly in our interest and in the countries of all, in the interest of all the countries in the world for the seas to be open and stable. And therefore the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force will go about carrying its activities according to the authority that we are given. Yes, we have a question right here in the middle, and then I'll come to you, sir. Veronica Cartier, International Conflict Management Initiative. I have question and opinion. Do you have, Admiral, I'm sorry, do you have information of the revision of IP, new security legislation of U.S.-Japan defense? And next. Does Japan still want of the claimant to the East-South China Sea? Because U.S. mission for Asia Pacific is U.S. rebalance of Asia, and we haven't got that stability, and we are now talking about ocean of prosperity. Is it for Japan or for the Asia Pacific? Thank you. As to the legislation on peace and security, it's currently being deliberated in the Japanese diet, therefore I will refrain from commenting on that here. As to the East China Sea, I believe that your question pertains to warning and surveillance activities, and as I mentioned a bit ago, that is the purview of the Joint Staff Office. I will therefore refrain from commenting on that as well. Recently, the Defense White Paper of Japan was just published, and it has a material in it that pertains to the East China Sea. If you could refer to that, then I think that would be a good basis for understanding of this question. As for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces, we intend to carry out appropriate action according to the authority that we are given. There was a microphone coming in on you. Hello, Kevin Merritt, NMV Consulting and Formula of the State. This is a related question. Formally with the State Department. Yes. It's a related question to the previous two questions, but I'll try to put it in terms of capabilities instead of political decisions, assuming that the collective self-defense legislation passes, which most people assume it will in September, in terms of MSDF capabilities and ISR capabilities, particularly in terms of surface warfare. Are you confident that the MSDF and the U.S. Navy have the capability to operate in an integrated manner, assuming again that there's a political decision to do so, or do you see areas where you need to make improvements or cooperation with the U.S. Navy needs to be improved to give you the capability to operate for freedom of navigation, for example, in the East China Sea. I believe that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces has ample capability, and we are in the process of improving that stage by stage. And the U.S. Navy rebalance is resulting in forces being concentrated in the East Asia-Western Pacific region as reported. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. Navy have a very good relationship in terms of combined operations, but I think that it's something that we must continue to improve. It's often said that one must adapt to the circumstances in order to avoid falling behind the times. This is true of U.S. Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, interoperability. We must continually make daily efforts in order to avoid falling behind the security environment. I've been in this position for 10 months, but this is already my third trip to the U.S. But even that is not enough, so I intend to make further efforts and be in touch with my U.S. Navy counterparts. Yes, sir. Steve Winter is an independent researcher. Admiral, how do you evaluate the effect of increasing submarine activity and future projected submarine activity in the South China Sea on the stability of the area and also, of course, on the surface of the water? It's true that the countries around the South China Sea, along with their healthy economic development, have begun to acquire submarines. And as to what might happen in the Asia-Pacific and under the framework of the WPNS, we have queues in order to avoid unplanned encounters at sea, and those efforts must be continued. If I might ask one question myself. My understanding, Admiral, is this is the first time that you and I believe someone in your position has given a public speech here in Washington. We are delighted by that, but I wondered if you might want to comment on why you decided today to give us the benefit of your ideas in this more public fashion. I have many friends in the United States. I want to say hello. Okay. We have time for one more question if somebody has been shy. Thank you. I'm Mark Tokola with the Korea Economic Institute. In terms of joint operations, joint planning, joint training, which is the Navy that the second most cooperation with after the U.S.? I think this is a question really that the Joint Staff Office should speak to as well. But given that our alliance with the United States is our only alliance, I don't think you really can talk about a third country. Admiral, thank you very much for your time here. It's been our pleasure to have you. Thank you.