This Symposium will feature a Diet Member from Okinawa, Konosuke Kokuba; Former National Security Advisor to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the current Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) Executive Director Justin Bassi; and Associate Professor of Political Science and the School of Policy and International Affairs, University of Maine, Kristin Vegasi. The panel will be moderated by Akira Igata from the University of Tokyo.

Date and Time: Monday, June 5, 2023, 15:00-16:30 JST (doors open at 14:20)
Place: ENEOS Hall, Komaba II Campus, The University of Tokyo
Language: Japanese and English (simultaneous interpretation will be provided)

Panelists:
- MP Konosuke Kokuba (Member of the House of Representatives (Okinawa 1 district - Fourth term); Chairman of the Defense Committee of the Liberal Democratic Party)

- Justin Bassi (Executive Director, Australian Strategic Policy Institute; Former National Security Adviser to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull)

- Kristin Vekasi (Associate Professor of Political Science and the School of Policy and International Affairs, University of Maine)

Moderator:

- Akira Igata (Project Lecturer, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo)

Details: 

The importance of trilateral cooperation between Japan, the US and Australia has been increasing exponentially in the last few years. The evolution of their relationships have progressed in a comprehensive manner, including areas of diplomacy, security, economics and values.

This symposium will discuss the increasingly challenging security environment in the Indo-Pacific, including the risk of a Taiwan contingency. The panelists will also examine critical economic security issues, such as countering economic coercion, diversifying strategic supply chains, and cooperating in critical and emerging technologies. We will then analyze issues such as the increasing rift between democracies and authoritarianism, countering disinformation, and dealing with foreign interference and how the three countries should utilize multilateral frameworks such as QUAD, AUKUS and G7 to address these challenges.