Copyright kyodonews
KUALA LUMPUR - New Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Sunday stressed the importance of realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, a vision conceived by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, during her meeting with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Her commitment comes as Takaichi, who became Japan's first female prime minister last Tuesday, shares many of the views on history, national security and the economy held by Abe, who laid out the vision in 2016, six years before he was assassinated. At the Japan-ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Takaichi, on her first overseas trip since taking office, said she will seek to further bolster ties and promote cooperation, with China's maritime assertiveness apparently in mind. While Takaichi, a pro-Taiwan lawmaker, has taken a hard-line stance against China, Japan believes it is vital to build closer relations with Southeast Asian countries, where key sea lanes lie and economic growth continues. She has been labeled a right-wing nationalist by Chinese state-run media. China's President Xi Jinping did not send a congratulatory message to her, a diplomatic source said, signaling Beijing's wariness toward her hawkish stance on security. Takaichi said in her opening remarks in Malaysia's capital that "Japan and ASEAN have built a relationship as trusted partners with heart-to-heart connections" and through cooperation in a wide range of areas. "Japan advocates a free and open Indo-Pacific and consistently supports the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific." The 64-year-old conservative began her speech in English but switched to Japanese after a while to "save time." Takaichi also said Japan plans to expand ASEAN recipients of official security aid, while vowing to build a reliable artificial intelligence framework with the regional group. She hopes to forge stable relationships with other world leaders after the administration of her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, lasted just over a year. Takaichi later Sunday attended summit talks of the Asia Zero Emission Community, a Japan-led decarbonization framework, with Australia and nine of the ASEAN members, apart from Myanmar and East Timor. Myanmar, which has been under military rule since a February 2021 coup, is not an AZEC member, while East Timor became the 11th member of ASEAN earlier Sunday. Takaichi, meanwhile, held separate talks with her counterparts from the Philippines and Malaysia, ASEAN's current chair. She is scheduled to return to Japan on Monday for U.S. President Donald Trump's trip to Tokyo. The two leaders agreed to strengthen the bilateral alliance during their first telephone talks Saturday. Takaichi plans to attend a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum later this month in South Korea, where a meeting between Trump and Xi is expected to draw attention. She was internal affairs minister while Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, was in office between 2012 and 2020. At the end of her ASEAN participation, Takaichi told reporters that she will make use of the outcomes for Japan's economic growth, saying she has pledged to boost investment in promising domestic firms capable of developing state-of-the-art technologies. On engaging with China, Takaichi said she had insufficient time to do so in Kuala Lumpur before returning to Tokyo to meet with Trump, but added, "I believe I'll have a chance to meet with Chinese leaders at upcoming meetings such as APEC." She and Chinese Premier Li Qiang did not hold bilateral talks in the Malaysian capital. During campaigning for the Oct. 4 presidential election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Takaichi expressed eagerness to maintain dialogue with China to discuss bilateral concerns related to economic security and defense.
