Japan has adopted a new five-year ocean policy that aims to strengthen the country’s maritime security amidst increasingly assertive actions from China within regional seas.

The new plan, announced April 28, will see Japan speed up its development of autonomous underwater vehicles and remotely operated robots as a way to improve the nation’s surveillance capabilities. Moreover, the ocean policy calls for advancements to Japan’s coast guard, a more aggressive approach towards undersea surveys, and the use of undersea resources for energy purposes, according to the Associated Press.

The plan cited several threats to Japanese security including Chinese coast guard ships repeatedly intruding on territorial waters, more unauthorized maritime activity by “foreign survey boats” in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, increased joint military exercises by China and Russia, and repeated missile launches by North Korea.

“The situation in the ocean around Japan is increasingly tense,” said Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida during an April 28 policy meeting. “It’s time for us to unite our wisdom among the industry, academia and government for ocean policy reform — or ocean transformation.” Kishida also said the country needs to better use its maritime resources to eventually achieve carbon neutrality.

The ocean policy aligns with Japan’s new national security strategy which was adopted by the government in December 2022. The security plan will strengthen Japan’s military powers by doubling the country’s defense budget over the next five years.