SE Asia warms to Japan's military role

SE Asia warms to Japan's military role

Dan Eaton, Reuters, Bangkok

The sight of the first Japanese warships steaming in Asian waters since World War Two sent a shudder through China.

But for nations in Southeast Asia, fearful of China's growing influence, that alone was one reason to welcome Japan's new military role -- albeit cautiously.

The other, is that many Southeast Asian nations are wary of U.S. dominance and an American tendency to focus too closely on its own agenda.

"A strong factor, if not the main factor, is exactly the one the Chinese object to," Robert Karniol, Asia-Pacific editor of Jane's Defense Weekly, told Reuters as Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi toured Southeast Asia.

"By Japan expanding its role, the countries in the region see it as balancing an over-dominant Chinese influence," he says.

"Far from any nervousness on the part of any (Southeast) Asian governments or security services, they are most encouraging of Japan taking an expanded role in ensuring stability and security in the region."

Scarred by memories of Japanese military aggression and the brutal wartime occupation of much of the country, China sees any move by Japan to seek a military role beyond its own borders as a cause for protest.

Southeast Asian nations, while they too suffered at the hands of occupying Japanese forces during World War Two, are more concerned with the prospect of a Japanese withdrawal as its own economic fortunes decline.

After World War Two, Japan, bound by its pacifist constitution, confined itself to an economic role in the region -- while seeking a new role for its military.

Since the September 11 suicide hijackings in the United States, under pressure from Washington to help in its war on terror, it has boosted its military role.

Within the space of a month, Tokyo passed a new law allowing its Self-Defense Force to transport and supply goods to help in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

Japanese navy ships were subsequently deployed to the Indian Ocean, the country's first military deployment in a war situation since World War Two.

Last month, Japan announced plans to buy four mid-air refueling tankers, a move which may have delighted vendor Boeing Co but raised hackles in China and North and South Korea over the extended reach they would give Tokyo's air force.

China has long seen Japan as a potential threat to its political influence in the region.

It vigorously opposes any change in Japan's military role, citing the pacifist constitution Tokyo had to adopt as a result of its wartime misadventures.

"Those complaints are not a purely realistic assessment, but a diplomatic means to criticize Japan when Tokyo does something against their interests," says Chaiwat Khamchu, dean of political science at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"Southeast Asia makes a (more) realistic assessment and doesn't feel very insecure about Japan's military role."

In Southeast Asia, buffeted by economic turmoil, there are fears that Japan, unable to reverse its own poor economic fortunes, is withdrawing from the region -- evidenced by declining investment and development assistance.

Koizumi's tour -- to the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore -- is aimed at persuading the region otherwise.

Southeast Asian leaders are likely to be keen to engage Japan across a broad spectrum.

But like other regional blocs, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations does not take kindly to outside meddling and likes to be seen to be looking after its own affairs. Cooperating on regional security -- whether the U.S.-led war on terrorism or combating piracy -- is one way of keeping Japan engaged.

In the past, Japan has offered to work with Southeast Asia on maritime anti-piracy patrols. At the time, there was little enthusiasm for the idea, but the offer remains on the table.

"I think it's up to the Japanese to be more imaginative about what they are offering," says Carl Thayer, professor of politics at Australia's Defense Force Academy in Canberra.

U.S. unilateralism is a concern in Southeast Asia as the world's largest military power flexes its muscle against terrorist threats.

"The rise of China is the main concern, U.S. unilateralism is the other," says Thayer. "Southeast Asia prefers the multilateral game."

Washington's decisive reaction to the events of Sept. 11 has calmed fears that it is about to scale down its security presence in Asia.

Its war in Afghanistan has shown that it is willing to take strong measures.