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3 Japan revs up its Indochina
diplomacy By Hisane Masaki
TOKYO - Amid intensifying rivalry between
Tokyo and Beijing over influence in Asia, Japan is
revving up its drive to strengthen relations with
countries in Indochina, an economically backward
but geopolitically important part of the region.
The target countries are Cambodia, Laos
and Vietnam, which are collectively referred to as
the "CLV" countries. To be sure, these countries
are all relatively small in terms of economic size and
represent a tiny fraction
of East Asia's economy.
Their combined
gross domestic product (GDP) was only about US$62
billion in 2005, with Vietnam, the biggest of the
three, accounting for about 85% of the total, with
$52.8 billion. The combined GDP of Japan, mainland
China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) totaled nearly $9 trillion in 2005.
But their location, with China and India,
the world's two most populous countries, looming
over them has made the CLV nations much more
important for Japan's Asia policy than their
economic figures suggest. In addition, for
countries outside ASEAN such as Japan and China,
assistance in the development of the CLV nations,
the least developed of the ASEAN nations along
with Myanmar, has become an increasingly important
avenue to strengthened ties with the entire ASEAN
and thereby their clout in the region. ASEAN
groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam and has a combined population
of some 530 million.
Last week, Japan
invited Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone
Bouphavanh. During his four-day trip, Bouasone met
with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other Japanese
officials to discuss bilateral relations and
regional and global issues. Bouasone also had an
audience with Emperor Akihito. For Laos as well as
Cambodia and Vietnam, Japan is by far the biggest
aid donor.
Among other things, Abe and
Bouasone agreed to accelerate negotiations on an
investment treaty between the two countries to
conclude it at an early date, according to their
joint press statement. The treaty is aimed at
encouraging Japanese investment in the landlocked
nation.
The two leaders also emphasized
the importance of an enhanced integration of the
Laotian economy into the world economy. Abe
expressed his support of Laos' accession to the
World Trade Organization (WTO). Cambodia and
Vietnam already joined the WTO, in October 2004
and in January this year, respectively.
In
addition to bilateral relations, Abe and Bouasone
discussed regional and global issues, including
the issue of North Korea's nuclear program and
Laos' accession to the International Whaling
Commission (IWC). Laos has diplomatic ties with
North Korea, while Japan does not. Japan wants
Laos to use its relations with Pyongyang to help
resolve the issues of the reclusive Stalinist
state's past abductions of Japanese citizens as
well as its nuclear ambitions.
At the IWC,
Japan is leading the pro-whaling camp, calling for
the lifting of a moratorium on commercial whaling.
Abe told Bouasone that he welcomes his country's
decision to join the IWC and looks forward to
cooperating with Laos at the IWC. But Bouasone did
not make it clear which side his nation will take
- pro-whaling or anti-whaling.
On Friday,
the day after Bouasone left Tokyo, Japan announced
that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen would make a
four-day visit to Japan starting on June 13.
During the visit, the countries are expected to
sign an investment treaty aimed at encouraging
Japanese investments in Cambodia. Japan has signed
such treaties with 11 countries, including China,
Russia and South Korea.
In November,
Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet is
scheduled to pay a visit to Japan. Last October,
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also
came to Tokyo as the first official foreign guest
invited by the government of Abe, who took office
in September. The leaders issued a statement
calling for a "strategic partnership" for peace
and prosperity in Asia.
Tug-of-war
Amid growing talk of creating an East
Asian Community in recent years, Japan and China
have been jockeying for the leadership role in
what will be the long and arduous process of
community-building. The two Asian powers have
competed for stronger and closer ties with ASEAN.
Although the 10 ASEAN members are much smaller
than Japan and China in economic size
individually, they wield a strong voice in East
Asian affairs as a group.
As East Asia
began to move toward greater regional economic
integration several years ago, China had a head
start over Japan in strengthening ties with ASEAN
by signing a free-trade agreement (FTA). The
Sino-ASEAN FTA took effect in July 2005. Japan and
ASEAN are still negotiating an FTA, although they
are expected to ink the deal this year.
Two-way trade between China and ASEAN has
been growing at a much faster pace than that
between Japan and ASEAN. China's investment in
ASEAN is also surging sharply, although the amount
is still dwarfed by Japan's investment in the
grouping.
China has taken a lead over
Japan on the political front as well. China signed
ASEAN's 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in
October 2003, a few months before Japan did. Japan
initially balked at signing the ASEAN treaty,
which provides for, among other things, peaceful
settlement of conflicts and non-interference in
internal affairs, out of political consideration
to its most important ally, the United States.
In 2001, China signed a "Declaration of
Conduct" with ASEAN to prevent conflicts in the
South China Sea, where China, four of the ASEAN
members - Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and
Brunei - and Taiwan claim all or part of the
Spratly Islands. In March 2005, China agreed with
Vietnam and the Philippines to explore for oil in
the disputed waters.
These aggressive
Chinese peace overtures toward ASEAN apparently
reflect a desire to assuage the perception of
China among some in ASEAN as the most serious
security threat to their countries and thereby to
forge closer ties with the grouping. Cementing
ties with ASEAN in general - and the joint
oil-exploration agreement with Vietnam and the
Philippines in particular - is also seen as part
of efforts to preempt a possible US-led
containment of China.
The Sino-Japanese
tug-of-war over greater influence in Southeast
Asia has also opened a new front - the Mekong
River basin. Moves by Japan and China to help the
development of the Mekong River basin have
intensified in recent years.
The
4,425-kilometer Mekong River originates in Tibet
and flows through China's Yunnan province,
Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam into
the South China Sea. It is the main artery for
Indochina. The Mekong basin, abundant in natural
and human resources, has attracted much attention
as an untapped frontier for development since the
early 1990s, after an end to the civil war in
Cambodia and other Cold War hostilities in the
region.
The Mekong region is increasingly
seen by many Japanese and Chinese companies as a
promising investment destination. But for Japan
and China, assistance in the development of the
Mekong region has also become a very important
avenue to strengthened ties with the entire ASEAN.
For ASEAN, correcting the so-called "ASEAN
divide" - the huge gap in wealth between rich and
poor members - is a high priority
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