Japan, ASEAN boost security ties
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Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, left, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, center, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, right, break a rice wine barrel during an ASEAN dinner party.
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TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Japan and Southeast Asia agreed to tighten security and economic ties, a day after Tokyo said it would start free trade talks with Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
Japan's concern about its role in fast-growing Southeast Asia has grown since 2002, when Beijing signed a pact setting a framework for talks on free trade agreements (FTAs) with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Friday, the final day of a two-day leaders' summit, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and ASEAN leaders signed documents pledging increased cooperation in a wide range of areas.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi also signed a document indicating Japan's intention to join the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia, a 1976 non-aggression pact that China and India agreed to sign in October.
Despite the documents, analysts said the two-day summit was basically a chance to court Southeast Asia by emphasizing Japan's long history of friendship -- and generous financial aid -- in the face of China's advances in the region.
"I think all of it, including signing the TAC, is Koizumi's way of showing the ASEAN countries that Japan is treating them well, out of concern about China's influence," said Hisao Iwashima, a diplomatic commentator.
"In particular, China's efforts to help realize talks on North Korea's nuclear programme have really raised its profile, and I believe the government is very aware of this."
The economic gains may ultimately prove more fruitful.
Business groups applauded the decision to start FTA talks with Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, hailing it as a crucial step towards a trade pact with ASEAN as a whole.
Talks are expected to start early in 2004, and Japanese officials said they hoped deals could be sealed by the start of 2005, when Tokyo wants to start talks on an ASEAN-wide pact.
Statements issued after the decisions were announced set no deadlines, saying only they hoped agreement could be reached "within a reasonable period of time."
China and ASEAN are aiming to finalize the world's most populous free trade zone -- 1.7 billion people -- by 2010. Japan's target date for a pact is two years later, in 2012.
Japan's only free trade deal to date is with ASEAN member Singapore, which offers little in the way of competition for Japan's heavily protected farming sector.
The other ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar.
Agriculture proved to be a major stumbling block in Japan's FTA talks with Mexico, which collapsed in October.
"Things could be quite tough," said Katsuichi Iwakami, a researcher at the Japan External Trade Organization. "This is especially true with Thailand, which has many sensitive sectors."
Thailand is the world's biggest exporter of rice -- a commodity that has strong cultural and social significance in Japan -- and is a major exporter of sugar and chicken meat.
Analysts said the threat from China's inroads into Southeast Asia may be exaggerated at present.
"Saying Japan is 'behind' China is nonsense," said Takashi Shiraishi, a Kyoto University professor who has taken part in government FTA advisory panels.
"But if you put it that way it puts pressure on the central government. They have to do something or look bad."
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
