Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, in his diplomatic debut on Thursday, expressed eagerness to forge closer ties with ASEAN members while voicing concerns over China’s maritime assertiveness during meetings in Laos with Southeast Asian nations and their regional partners.
During the ASEAN Plus Three summit in Vientiane, joined by Japan, China and South Korea, Ishiba voiced opposition to “unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion” anywhere in the world, citing the “increasingly severe” security environment in the region, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
He also sounded the alarm over the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear and missile activities in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, urging a “robust response” from the international community to bring about its denuclearization.
In his first overseas trip since taking office just over a week ago, Ishiba has been keen to enhance relations with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a region at the forefront of increasing rivalry between the United States and China, and assure of Japan’s continuing diplomatic policy under his new government.
Touching on “a relationship of trust” that spans over half a century, Ishiba said at the ASEAN-Japan meeting, which was also held the same day, “Japan wishes to shape and safeguard the future together with ASEAN, which shares principles such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law, and is a growth center of the world.”
ASEAN members expressed “high expectations” for deepening cooperation with Japan, including in new fields such as decarbonization and digitalization, which Ishiba promised to work on, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Ishiba indicated through the meetings that Japan’s stance against China remains unchanged, expressing opposition to actions that violate national sovereignty in the East China Sea, where the Japanese-controlled, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands are located.
China regularly sends its military and coast guard vessels into Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands. In late August, Japan also confirmed for the first time that a Chinese military spy plane violated Japanese airspace over waters in the East China Sea off islands in Nagasaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan.
Ishiba also voiced apprehension over “militarization and coercive acts” in the South China Sea. China has overlapping claims there with some ASEAN members and its confrontations with the Philippines, in particular, are intensifying.
Regarding Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that China views as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary, Ishiba said peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are “important” for the regional and international communities.
But Ishiba said Tokyo will continue to “closely communicate with Beijing at various levels,” according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, aiming for constructive and stable relations between the two East Asian powers.
During the ASEAN Plus Three summit, Chinese Premier Li Qiang indirectly warned against U.S. interference in Asian affairs, stating in his opening remarks that were open to media that “external forces” are attempting to provoke confrontation and conflicts in the region.
Asian affairs should be discussed and handled by Asian people, and the destiny of Asia must be in their hands, Li said, seemingly trying to drive a wedge between Washington and its East Asian allies, Tokyo and Seoul.
On the fringes of the gatherings, Ishiba met bilaterally with Li and agreed to seek mutually beneficial ties.
He also held separate talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, agreeing to promote bilateral collaboration in the areas of security, economy and people-to-people exchanges, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
As part of three days of summit meetings organized by the ASEAN that started Wednesday, the Japanese, Chinese and South Korean leaders will also participate in the 18-member East Asia Summit on Friday, which includes representatives of Australia, India, Russia and the United States.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The ASEAN Plus Three dialogue has mainly focused on regional economic cooperation, including enhancing the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization, a scheme to provide emergency liquidity created in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
