Koizumi pledges 'sincere, open' partnership with Southeast Asia
Koizumi pledges 'sincere, open' partnership with Southeast Asia
Agence France-Presse, Manila
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged on Wednesday at the start of his Southeast Asian tour to cooperate more closely with the region in a "sincere and open" partnership.
Koizumi was speaking after talks with Philippine President Gloria Arroyo in Manila, the first stop of his week-long trip to the region.
Aside from the Philippines, he will visit four other key members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
"I conveyed my message that we would like to cooperate with ASEAN as open and sincere partners so that we can act together and advance together in the future," Koizumi told a joint news conference with Arroyo after their talks at the Malacanang presidential palace.
He said: "We were able to confirm our common understanding on various issues and agreed to continue our cooperation. This is significant and wonderful for the two countries, ASEAN and the entire region."
Arroyo said they agreed on the need for ASEAN and Japan to forge closer links in addressing issues and problems affecting the region.
"I welcome Prime Minister Koizumi's new foreign policy vision for East Asia," Arroyo said.
She backed Koizumi's effort to revamp the troubled Japanese economy, saying Tokyo's recovery was key to growth in the entire region.
During his flight to Manila, Koizumi told reporters he planned to use the ASEAN trip to express his readiness to take concrete action for Japan to become a true partner of ASEAN.
Tokyo wanted to demonstrate that "a friend in need is a friend indeed," he said.
"As a frank partner, I would like to look for cooperative relations, considering how Japan-ASEAN ties can contribute to the peace and stability of the international community," he added.
Small numbers of uniformed police and members of Arroyo's Presidential Security Group guarded the motorcade route as about 50 anti-Japan demonstrators gathered near a central Manila park where Koizumi laid a wreath by the monument of national hero Jose Rizal.
The leftists and women's groups were protesting Japan's occupation of the Philippines in World War II.
"Never again will Filipinos accept Japan's new bid to establish itself as an imperialist power in the region," said a leaflet they distributed at the site.
On Thursday, Koizumi flies to Kuala Lumpur to meet Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad before moving on to Bangkok on Friday to meet Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Koizumi will hold talks with Indonesia's President Megawati Soekarnoputri in Jakarta on Saturday and meet Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on Sunday before returning to Tokyo on Jan. 15.
Koizumi also welcomed a planned free trade accord between China and ASEAN while hinting at his hope for the conclusion of a similar agreement between Japan and the 10-member grouping.
"I hope the move will help expand the development of both China and ASEAN members," he said.
Asked if he would propose a free trade agreement with ASEAN during his trip, Koizumi said: "We need to hold dialog, considering much closer relations in cooperation in the future."
In November, Japan was left out in the cold when China and ASEAN agreed to create the world's most populous free trade bloc within 10 years, covering two billion consumers.
Japanese news reports have said Koizumi will propose an action plan to form a comprehensive economic alliance, including free trade accords, with ASEAN members.
In October, Japan and Singapore completed negotiations to launch a bilateral free trade accord, the first ever for the world's second-biggest economy.
On the same day the Philippines has approved Japanese firm Kirin Brewery Corp.'s bid to purchase a stake in local food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp., a presidential spokesman said on Wednesday.
The "interim agreement" was reached with San Miguel chief executive Eduardo Cojuangco and would be finalized before a special stockholders' meeting on Feb. 27, spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told reporters.