June 12, 2022
Japan Ministry of Defense
On June 12, 2022, Defense Minister KISHI, who was visiting Singapore to attend the 19th IISS Asia Pacific Security Conference (Shangri-La Dialogue), held a meeting with Minister of Defence of New Zealand, Peeni Henare. The summary of the meeting is as follows.
- The two ministers concurred in further promoting defense cooperation in the Pacific Islands Region. Also, Minister Kishi expressed his gratitude for New Zealand’s participation in JPIDD and New Zealand’s support for Japan’s participation in SPDMM as an observer.
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The ministers exchanged views on regional situations and reaffirmed their continued close cooperation amid Russia’s aggression against Ukraine that undermines the foundations of international order. Regarding the situations in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, the ministers expressed their will to strongly oppose any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force and any action to increase tensions.
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The ministers shared the view that North Korea’s increasing nuclear and missile activities pose a serious challenge to the international community as a whole. Minister Kishi expressed that he highly valued New Zealand’s deployment of its assets for monitoring and surveillance activities against illicit maritime activities including North Korea’s illegal “ship-to-ship transfers”. The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to closely coordinating toward the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of all of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile of all ranges.
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The two ministers reaffirmed they would continue to vigorously promote bilateral defense cooperation and exchanges, including the conduct of joint exercises, to uphold and reinforce the Free and Open Indo-Pacific, while maintaining close communication between respective defense authorities.
