Link to article- https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-to-sign-agreement-allowing-arms-exports-to-vietnam-media
After ending a very long ban on overseas arms sales in 2014, Japan has recently been working with Vietnam and Indonesia. They plan to sign an agreement with Vietnam, allowing them to export defense equipment to the country. Their long-term goal is to strengthen the defense of Indo-Pacific nations against the Chinese. This plan began in August when they signed a deal with the Philippines to receive warning and control radar systems. Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese Prime Minister, will be visiting Vietnam and Indonesia very soon, and it is expected that he will sign the deal with Vietnam while he is gone. As Tokyo negotiates, their future plans are to sign deals with Indonesia and Thailand.
By expanding their defensive alliances to the rest of the Indo-Pacific, they are able to create more of a balance to China’s growing strength. This is significant because following World War 2, Japan’s constitution had limited its defense strategy and policy to self-defense forces. Additionally, Vietnam is a communist country, so for them to come to an agreement with a non-communist country, such as Japan, may have a deeper meaning. These new trade alliances being formed could cause China to seek its own alliances, and could bring the beginning of what could be a new cold war.
These defensive actions made by Japan and multiple other Indo-Pacific countries could potentially mean that there will be a new military IGO forming in East and Southeast Asia in the future. This IGO would be very similar to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), which was created in 1954 with the goal of blocking communist gains in Southeast Asia. This organization later dissolved in 1977 due to a lack of interest by many countries that were initially involved. If this IGO forms, then they may also be able to get the United States to join them against China. This would most likely only happen if things were to escalate any further with the relationship between the United States and China.