In a resolution submitted today to the Assembly of the Republic, IL highlights Portugal’s historic ties with Japan since the 16th century, emphasizing that Japan is not a “distant country” but a “partner with common roots in the Pacific” with shared “universal values.”
“Currently, Japan faces one of the most challenging security contexts in its contemporary history,” the project reads, noting Japan’s territorial disputes with Russia over the Kuril Islands.
“This situation is exacerbated by recent rhetoric from the Kremlin, notably from high-ranking Russian security officials, accusing Japan of pursuing a ‘suicidal militarization policy,’ a clear attempt to intimidate Tokyo and influence its sovereign foreign policy,” it states.
Concerning North Korea, IL points out that the nation “continues a nuclear and ballistic program that poses a threat not only to Japan but to the entire international security system.”
“The threat of a fully operational North Korean nuclear arsenal, combined with aggressive and unpredictable rhetoric, makes this issue one of the most severe sources of instability in Northeast Asia,” IL stresses.
Lastly, the party notes that China is intensifying “its military and naval presence throughout the South China Sea and, in particular, around Taiwan,” warning that this challenges “the entire strategic balance of the Indo-Pacific.”
In this context, IL highlights that Japan has strengthened its defense capabilities and “deepened its alliances with established and relevant democracies,” and mentions that “in the face of these legitimate defense initiatives, both Russia and China seek to portray Japan as a country on a military escalation.”
“This narrative is unfair and unfounded,” IL argues, considering that Portugal, as an EU and NATO member state and a country that “initiated dialogue with Japan nearly five centuries ago,” cannot “remain indifferent” to this scenario.
“Solidarity with Japan is not just solidarity with a friendly state: it is the defense of a fundamental principle—that free peoples have the right to protect themselves against external threats, to choose their allies, and to determine their own destiny,” it states.
IL thus recommends the Government to “publicly affirm solidarity and political and diplomatic support to Japan, reaffirming the country’s sovereign right to guarantee its national security and defense against threats from Russia, China, and North Korea.”
The party also urges the executive to deepen “bilateral cooperation between Portugal and Japan, notably in the political, military, economic, scientific, and cultural areas, valuing the historical ties that have connected the two countries since 1543.”
IL also calls for the Government to “encourage Portuguese participation in multilateral initiatives that strengthen maritime security, freedom of navigation, as well as air security and technological resilience in the Indo-Pacific, in coordination with Japan and its democratic partners.”
This resolution was submitted to the Assembly of the Republic on the day Luís Montenegro arrives in Beijing for a two-day visit to China, followed by a two-day trip to Japan starting Thursday.
