Japan seeks broader ties with ASEAN
Japan seeks broader ties with ASEAN
SINGAPORE (Agencies): Japanese Premier Ryutaro Hashimoto yesterday unveiled an ambitious plan to intensify relations with Southeast Asia with annual summits and a vast array of cooperation programs in the 21st century.
Saying it was time for Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to have "broader and deeper" ties beyond economics, he proposed bilateral security talks and joint efforts on everything from fighting terrorism to battling pollution.
The blueprint, dubbed the "Hashimoto Doctrine", was unveiled at the end of the Japanese leader's tour of five nations belonging to ASEAN, one of Japan's most vital international partners.
In a lecture attended by Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and foreign diplomats, Hashimoto said Japan and ASEAN "should reform their cooperative relationship in a manner suitable for a new era."
He said his proposal for annual Japan-ASEAN summits was backed by Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Malaysia's Premier Mahathir Mohamad, Indonesian President Soeharto, Vietnamese Premier Vo Van Kiet, and Singapore's Goh.
"In order to promote Japan-ASEAN cooperation, strong political leadership is indispensable. Dialogs at top levels should be enhanced to build stronger personal ties of trust between top leaders," he said.
"We should make use of occasions such as formal and informal ASEAN summit meetings. I proposed this idea to the leaders I met during this visit, and obtained their agreements on this basic idea," he said.
Hashimoto is expected to send an emissary soon to the two ASEAN leaders he did not meet during the tour -- Philippine President Fidel Ramos and Thai Premier Chavalit Yongchaiyudh -- to get their endorsement.
If the annual summits push through, Japan would be the first major power regularly included in ASEAN summits.
ASEAN leaders have agreed to meet informally at the end of every year, with formal summits held roughly every three years.
The first informal summit held last November in Jakarta included ASEAN applicants Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
Hashimoto proposed "frank dialogs on regional security issues with each of the ASEAN countries on a bilateral basis," another unprecedented move.
He said Japan, which starts a two-year stint this year as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, would like to "closely consult with ASEAN" at the world body.
In other areas, Hashimoto said Japan and ASEAN should work closely on what he called issues of the 21st century -- terrorism, the environment, health and welfare, food and energy shortages, population, AIDS and drugs.
In his lecture, Hashimoto stressed that future Japan-ASEAN cooperation would depend on regional stability, and the "most important factor" to ensure this is the U.S. military presence. Japan hosts some 47,000 American troops, nearly half the 100,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen deployed by Washington across the Asia-Pacific region.
"Even after the end of the Cold War, several unstable factors persist in the region," Hashimoto continued.
He said that these factors could only be kept from escalating by the U.S., "a country of unrivaled power and founded upon principles such as democracy, market mechanism and respect for creativity."
Hashimoto also urged ASEAN and the entire international community to continue engaging China and support its modernization efforts "so that she can secure her position as a constructive partner in the international community."
He offered Japanese advice on fighting pollution, a growing problem in ASEAN's red-hot economies, "so they will not repeat the same mistakes" made by Japan when it was at the same stage of economic development.
The Japanese leader also said Tokyo was ready to help preserve Southeast Asia's cultural treasures, citing Japanese assistance to restore Cambodia's Angkor Wat complex and the ancient Vietnamese city of Hue.
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