Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs conducted a survey on diplomacy in February on various geopolitical issues, with security and humanitarian assistance scoring high on a question about the Middle East.

When asked about what issues Japan should concern itself with in the Middle East, 49 percent of the respondents said, “Ensuring the security of Japanese residents and companies in the country.”

Second on the list was “energy security, including securing the safety of navigation,” while the third most important topic was “providing humanitarian assistance, including refugee assistance.”

Just over 81 percent expressed a fear that the security environment in East Asia was becoming increasingly severe, with 57 percent stating that their favored solution was to “strengthen cooperation with the US and friendly countries, including European countries and Australia. Just under 50 percent believed in reinforcing Japan’s own defense capabilities, while 35 percent thought diplomatic efforts through dialogue was the answer.

Sixty-one percent thought Japan should take a strong stance on intrusions into Japan’s territorial waters by China and 53 percent wanted security related to North Korea.

 When asked about foreign information manipulation, 21 percent replied that they were not aware of any spread of disinformation by foreign actors. Of those who were aware, 49 percent said they would check the validity of the information from Japanese government sources.

On reforms to the United Nations, something the Japanese government has been promoting in recent years, only 40 percent thought there should be Security Council reform.