Abe announced the Free and Open

In 2016, Abe announced the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy, which was geared towards curbing China’s growing influence in maritime Asia. Japan helped revitalise the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad), and has participated in naval exercises with Quad members in waters as far-flung as the Indian Ocean. In tandem with this enhanced multilateral engagement, the SDF has shifted its focus south and has invested in the defence of its southernmost islands, the Nansei Shoto, against Chinese aggression. Japan’s expansive new foreign policy has cemented it into the United States’ vision for East Asian order and endeared Tokyo to capitals throughout the Indo-Pacific. But Tokyo’s expansive regional vision has implicitly relied on a relatively predictable balance of power in Japan’s immediate vicinity, Northeast Asia. The principal impediment to peace in Northeast Asia — North Korea — has historically been deterred by the US nuclear สล็อต