Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations held the annual Japan-ASEAN summit on Monday in Manila, at which Abe said Japan and ASEAN should lead the development of a “free and open” international order. “With ASEAN having become a main actor in
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations held the annual Japan-ASEAN summit on Monday in Manila, at which Abe said Japan and ASEAN should lead the development of a “free and open” international order.
“With ASEAN having become a main actor in the world, in which democracy, the rule of law and market economies have taken root, it is important to extend ASEAN’s success to the entire Indo-Pacific region to bring out this region’s potential,” Abe said at the outset of the talks, open to the press.
“In the 50 years ahead, we want to lead together with ASEAN, which faces both the Indian and Pacific oceans, the development of a free and open international order based on the rule of law, building on (ASEAN’s) development so far,” Abe said.
While Tokyo has taken pains to stress that the “free and open” message is not specifically aimed at China, the importance placed on coordination with each of the 10 members of ASEAN reflects Abe’s desire to assert a place for Japan in the face of Beijing’s rising regional influence.
At the same time, Abe welcomed the agreement between ASEAN and China to start negotiations toward a code of conduct for their actions in the South China Sea, where some members of the bloc have overlapping territorial claims with Beijing.
