Shared concerns bolster Japan-Indonesia ties
Japan should properly respond to rapid changes in the Asian security environment as a result of China's conspicuous increase in maritime activities.
On Friday, Prime Minister Naoto Kan held talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Tokyo. The two leaders agreed their countries would boost bilateral cooperation in fighting piracy in the Strait of Malacca, the South China Sea and neighboring waters, and in addressing Asian security issues.
These waters, which include sea lanes linking the Middle East with Northeast Asia, are extremely important for Japan as a trading nation.
During Friday's meeting, Kan and Yudhoyono agreed to promote cooperation in preparing for tsunami and other natural disasters and combating global warming. They also decided that ministerial talks between the two nations, including meetings of their foreign, defense, economy, trade and industry ministers, would take place at regular intervals.
It would have great significance if Japan and Indonesia, a key member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, could cooperate in securing regional stability through future dialogue.
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China a common interest
The two leaders' agreement to increase bilateral strategic relations reflects their decision that Japan and Indonesia need to jointly deal with China as it seeks to become a maritime power.
China has had constant disputes with such countries as Vietnam and the Philippines over territorial claims and maritime interests in the South China Sea. ASEAN nations are increasingly alarmed by China's apparent readiness to use military threats to get its own way.
In fact, ASEAN is seeking to upgrade the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC)--a document signed in 2002 by the ASEAN nations and China to resolve disputes in that sea through dialogue--to a legally binding "code of conduct." China should agree to join talks aimed at transforming the DOC declaration into such a mandatory code.
It is disconcerting to note that the Chinese Navy has been increasing its activities in waters around Japan in recent years.
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Sailing too close for comfort
In early June, 11 Chinese Navy ships, including destroyers, sailed between Okinawa Island and the Sakishima islands--after which these vessels conducted drills in the western Pacific, off the eastern Philippines. The move comes as the Chinese Navy has been expanding its oceangoing exercises--both in scale and substance--year by year.
Japan cannot turn a blind eye to China's increasing naval buildup, given its disputes with that country over the Senkaku Islands and gas field development projects in the East China Sea.
The Japanese government must build a multitiered and broad-based framework for dialogue not only with Indonesia but with other Asian nations that are growingly apprehensive about China's maritime advance. We believe deepening Japan's alliance with the United States will also serve to restrain China in this respect.
To achieve this aim, the government should actively use such occasions as ASEAN Regional Forum talks in July and an East Asia Summit meeting in autumn. Each participating nation needs to exercise wisdom in encouraging China to restrain itself from further maritime advances.
Shared concerns bolster Japan-Indonesia ties
Japan should properly respond to rapid changes in the Asian security environment as a result of China's conspicuous increase in maritime activities.
On Friday, Prime Minister Naoto Kan held talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Tokyo. The two leaders agreed their countries would boost bilateral cooperation in fighting piracy in the Strait of Malacca, the South China Sea and neighboring waters, and in addressing Asian security issues.
These waters, which include sea lanes linking the Middle East with Northeast Asia, are extremely important for Japan as a trading nation.
During Friday's meeting, Kan and Yudhoyono agreed to promote cooperation in preparing for tsunami and other natural disasters and combating global warming. They also decided that ministerial talks between the two nations, including meetings of their foreign, defense, economy, trade and industry ministers, would take place at regular intervals.
It would have great significance if Japan and Indonesia, a key member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, could cooperate in securing regional stability through future dialogue.
===
China a common interest
The two leaders' agreement to increase bilateral strategic relations reflects their decision that Japan and Indonesia need to jointly deal with China as it seeks to become a maritime power.
China has had constant disputes with such countries as Vietnam and the Philippines over territorial claims and maritime interests in the South China Sea. ASEAN nations are increasingly alarmed by China's apparent readiness to use military threats to get its own way.
In fact, ASEAN is seeking to upgrade the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC)--a document signed in 2002 by the ASEAN nations and China to resolve disputes in that sea through dialogue--to a legally binding "code of conduct." China should agree to join talks aimed at transforming the DOC declaration into such a mandatory code.
It is disconcerting to note that the Chinese Navy has been increasing its activities in waters around Japan in recent years.
===
Sailing too close for comfort
In early June, 11 Chinese Navy ships, including destroyers, sailed between Okinawa Island and the Sakishima islands--after which these vessels conducted drills in the western Pacific, off the eastern Philippines. The move comes as the Chinese Navy has been expanding its oceangoing exercises--both in scale and substance--year by year.
Japan cannot turn a blind eye to China's increasing naval buildup, given its disputes with that country over the Senkaku Islands and gas field development projects in the East China Sea.
The Japanese government must build a multitiered and broad-based framework for dialogue not only with Indonesia but with other Asian nations that are growingly apprehensive about China's maritime advance. We believe deepening Japan's alliance with the United States will also serve to restrain China in this respect.
To achieve this aim, the government should actively use such occasions as ASEAN Regional Forum talks in July and an East Asia Summit meeting in autumn. Each participating nation needs to exercise wisdom in encouraging China to restrain itself from further maritime advances.
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