Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives at the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos September 7, 2016.REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states found limited common ground on Japanese concerns about China's expansionary activities in the South China Sea at their summit Wednesday in Vientiane.
The 10 members of ASEAN, which met Tuesday and Wednesday, include countries involved in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea as well as those inclined to back Beijing in light of its massive assistance to the bloc's less-developed economies.
During the talks running just more than an hour, Abe reiterated Japan's position backing a ruling by an international arbitration tribunal in July that rejected China's territorial claims to most of the South China Sea.
According to a Japanese official, Abe told the leaders that China has made continued attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo in the last several months.
In response to ASEAN members' commitment to maintaining dialogue aimed at peacefully resolving territorial disputes with China, Abe said such dialogue should be carried out according to international law and on the basis of maintaining self-restraint, the official said.
According to the official, several of the ASEAN leaders shared a similar stance on the South China Sea issue to that expressed by Abe, and none objected to it.
But the official refused to clarify whether any of the leaders made an explicit mention of the July ruling.
Some of the leaders mentioned the need for self-restraint in the South China Sea but did not mention China by name, the official said, while one spoke of the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation in the East China Sea, where Japan has its own issues with China over the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands.
Since the ruling, China has argued that the South China Sea issue is none of Japan's business. In response, Abe stressed to the ASEAN leaders that the waterway is an especially vital sea lane for Japan, the official said.
According to ASEAN sources, the ASEAN post-summit chairman's statement compiled by Laos will likely stop short of specifically referring to the case, following the precedent its foreign ministers set in a joint communique at their meeting in July.
The leaders also affirmed the need to work cooperatively to combat the threat of terrorism in Asia, including by homegrown terrorists, and fortify cybersecurity.
Abe announced that Japan will provide 45 billion yen ($444 million) through various avenues over the next three years to fund measures to improve counter-terrorism capabilities across Asia, combat violent extremist groups and promote socioeconomic development to support stable societies.
Japan will also support the training of 2,000 counter-terrorism experts over the next three years to those ends.
Touching on the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community late last year, Abe expressed Japan's resolve to continue to support enhanced economic integration in ASEAN through "high-quality" infrastructure investment, according to Japanese officials.
Tokyo has been emphasizing the quality of its infrastructure development in an apparent effort to distinguish its investment in emerging economies from that of China.
The leaders agreed on the establishment of a Japan-ASEAN women's empowerment fund to support microfinance, to be managed by selected Japanese private-sector investors, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
According to the Japanese government, the first disbursement for the fund is scheduled for October. The fund will then distribute investment and loans to microfinance entities in each eligible country, which will in turn reach small businesses run mainly by women.
http://interaksyon.com/article/132237/japan-pm-abe-asean-leaders-exchange-views-on-south-china-sea
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