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.