Japan more likely to look to Asia in 1995
Japan more likely to look to Asia in 1995
By Miu Oikawa Dieter
TOKYO (Kyodo): Ties with Asian neighbors are likely to dominate the minds of Japanese diplomats in 1995.
"Relations with the United States are essential, but it's only natural, at this stage in history, for Japan to shift its diplomatic weight to Asia," said legislator Shintaro Ishihara in a book co-authored with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
It is time for Japan and Asia to stand up to the U.S. and Europe, which impose "selfish" trade and political policies on Asian countries, Mahathir and Ishihara wrote in The Asia That Can Say No.
The book, which sold 65,000 copies since being published in late October, calls for Japan to return to its Asian roots. It urges Japan to join the East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC), an Asian trade grouping excluding the U.S., which Mahathir proposed in 1990. While the Japanese government remains noncommittal on the EAEC plan in consideration of Washington's opposition to it, the Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), Japan's most influential economic lobby, recently suggested that Japan join the grouping.
Although the inclination is already notable in the trade and cultural spheres, Japan will have opportunities to focus more on Asia in 1995 as it hosts the summit and ministerial meetings in Osaka of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in fall.
For many Asian countries, the year 1995, the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, also marks half a century since they gained independence, while Japan and South Korea will be celebrating the 30th year since establishing diplomatic relations.
"There's a possibility that with all those things happening in 1995, Japan will be put into a difficult corner," said a Foreign Ministry official in charge of analyzing international affairs. "We have to pay close attention so that minor events won't develop into major problems."
Diplomats particularly worry about possible tensions that may arise over Japan's wartime role. Controversies similar to the one over a since-abandoned U.S. plan to issue stamps hailing atomic bombs as speeding the end of the war are also likely to recur, they say.
"Memories of the past will inevitably become vivid," said a top Foreign Ministry official. "Close cooperation among governments is necessary to avoid any negative effects."
Shunji Yanai, director general of the ministry's Foreign Policy Bureau, said in an interview that in 1995 Japan wants to focus on promoting cooperative relations with Asia-Pacific countries, which have been lagging behind until now.
"We want to promote dialogue with the Asia-Pacific region in political and security spheres, not just on the economic front," Yanai said.
But while Japan hopes to have a bigger say on the political scene in the region, its role during World War II has hindered it from taking the leadership.
In 1993, then Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa offered the most explicit apology yet of any postwar Japanese leader for Japan's wartime aggression in Asia.
But frequent remarks by cabinet ministers denying wartime responsibility have not helped remove the lingering criticism among Asian nations that Tokyo has not come to grips with its past.
In a bid to express remorse for its role in World War II, Japan unveiled in August a 100 billion yen project to promote historical research and exchanges with Asian nations.
But the decade-long program, which rules out individual compensation, failed to satisfy war victims abroad, including women who were forced as "comfort women" into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers before and during the war.
"How we view the past is important, but it's also necessary to think ahead, about what to do in the next 50, 100 years," a high- ranking ministry official said. "It's especially important to think of Japan's future relations with Asia-Pacific countries."
Such future-oriented relations with some countries are already in place, including that with South Korea, according to the ministry. The remaining task for Japan, the official said, is to normalize relations with North Korea.
Ministry officials say Tokyo has made several contacts with Pyongyang over the past few months in a bid to reopen talks on normalization of diplomatic relations. But North Korea has yet to agree to resumption of the talks, suspended since November 1992.
After eight rounds of talks starting from 1991, the North Korean delegation walked out in protest at Japan's request.
Pyongyang also refuses to discuss its nuclear problem with Tokyo, which considers the matter essential to address.
"Having no diplomatic ties five decades after the end of World War II is abnormal," said the official. "The 50th anniversary may serve as a good opportunity to resume bilateral talks."