(Press Release)
May 20, 2021
Ministry of Defense
Video Teleconference between Japan’s Minister of Defense and Brunei Darussalam’s Minister of Defence II
On May 20, 2021, Minister KISHI held a video teleconference with Minister of Defence II of Brunei Darussalam, The Honorable Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof, Minister of Defence II of Brunei Darussalam.
1 Minister Kishi and The Honorable Pehin Halbi exchanged views on the regional security issues in light of the current events occurring in the region. Minister Kishi reiterated the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight, and reaffirmed the critical need for observing international law based primarily on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and his intent to reinforce within the international community their steadfast opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by coercion. From these perspectives, Minister Kishi expressed serious concerns over the China’s Coast Guard Law.
Minister Kishi condemned the launches of ballistic missiles by North Korea in March, which violates UNSC resolutions and he conveyed his view that North Korea’s repeated launches of ballistic missiles pose a serious challenge to the international community as a whole.
Regarding the situation in Myanmar, Minister Kishi welcomed the outcome of ASEAN Leader’s Meeting and he conveyed his intent to continue to cooperate closely on this matter.
2 They also exchanged views on bilateral and multilateral defense cooperation and exchanges. Minister Kishi expressed great appreciation for Brunei’s leadership as the chairman of ASEAN this year and also conveyed his intention to closely cooperate with The Honorable Pehin Halbi at the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) which is scheduled to be held on 16 June of this year. Furthermore, Minister Kishi stated and welcomed that both countries were able to share lessons learned in the context of preventing the spread of infectious diseases through “Japan-ASEAN HADR invitation program”, which was held last month as a series of defense cooperation of counter measures against infectious diseases. On that basis, they also shared the views that Japan and Brunei will promote further bilateral and multilateral defense cooperation and exchanges.
3 In this context, Minister Kishi and The Honorable Pehin Halbi also concurred in proactively promoting defense cooperation and exchanges while maintaining close communication between respective defense authorities
