MANILA - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on April 5 that he wanted to cooperate with neighbours South Korea and the Philippines, and even engage with North Korea to ensure regional security.
“The current security environment is tough and complex, and we are at a turning point in history,” Mr Kishida said in a group interview. “Cooperation between Japan and the United States and like-minded countries is a very important issue.”
The Japanese leader spoke ahead of a planned summit next week with US President Joe Biden, as the allies look for ways to counter China’s growing influence in Asia and deter it from resorting to military action to resolve its disputes in the region.
The state visit to Washington, the first by a Japanese leader in nine years, is meant to showcase their close security and economic ties, with the two leaders expected to discuss cooperation on defence equipment and a possible upgrade in the US military command structure in Japan.
That meeting will be followed by a trilateral summit with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, on economic relations and the Indo-Pacific. This will include discussion on recent incidents in the South China Sea.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory, policed by an armada of coast guard vessels, some more than 1,000km away from its mainland.
The Philippines and China have had a series of run-ins at sea and heated exchanges in the past year over disputed maritime features, including an incident in March in which China used water cannon to disrupt a Philippine supply mission to soldiers stationed in a grounded warship on a South China Sea shoal.
“Close cooperation between Japan, the US, and the Philippines is crucial for a free and open order based on the rule of law and for economic prosperity in the region,” Mr Kishida said.
The summit is not directed at any country, the Philippines’ Acting Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Hans Mohaimin Siriban told a press conference, although the three countries have expressed concern about China’s growing aggressiveness in the region.
“We can expect an alignment of views among the three countries on the recent incidents,” Mr Siriban said, adding they are expected to come up with a “joint vision statement” on their diplomatic relations.
Mr Kishida said Mr Biden and Mr Marcos will separately hold a bilateral meeting ahead of the trilateral summit. Japan in 2023 delivered four air defence radars to the Philippines and is negotiating a reciprocal access agreement with Manila that would make it easier for Japanese troops to train there.
A separate trilateral meeting between Mr Kishida, Mr Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in the US in 2023 helped Tokyo mend relations with Seoul and bolster security cooperation.
Mr Kishida has said he is also willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “without any preconditions” in a bid to improve strained relations with the nuclear-armed regime.
Relations between the countries have been strained over disputes dating back to Japan’s occupation in the first half of the 20th century, and by North Korea’s past abduction of Japanese citizens.
“Establishing a fruitful relationship will not only benefit Japan and North Korea but will also contribute greatly to peace and stability in the region,” Mr Kishida said. REUTERS
