Tokyo Takes Asian Flak on Eve of APEC Summit  
International Herald Tribune
November 10, 1994
Michael Richardson 

With Washington and Tokyo embroiled in a seemingly endless spat over trade, Japan is coming under increasing pressure to turn to Asia and away from the West for its future economic security and prosperity.

The choice is critical both for the direction of Japanese foreign policy and for the country's role in APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, analysts say.

Japan will take over from Indonesia as chairman of the 18- member group after the second summit meeting of forum leaders that will take place in Bogor, Indonesia, on Tuesday. Ministers from the group begin their formal meeting on trade, investment and other issues in Jakarta on Friday.

Tokyo hopes to play the role of an even-handed mediator in APEC, continuing a traditional dual-track policy of seeking to balance its economic and security interests with the West and Asia.

However, Japan is now in the uncomfortable position of being assailed by the United States for not doing enough to cut a huge trade surplus with America while being attacked by East Asian states for failing to earn their trust and thus being accepted as a representative of the region.

In recent days, the Japanese government has taken a scornful lashing from Malaysia for refusing to join other East Asian countries in a proposed regional economic caucus that two of the four Western members of the forum - the United States and Australia - strongly oppose.

"The only Asian country with the ability to help fellow Asian countries refuses to do so but instead demands to know why America is not included, why Australia and New Zealand are not included," said Mahathir bin Mohamad, the Malaysian prime minister.

Japan would "not be forsaking" America by joining the proposed East Asia Economic Caucus, he said. If Tokyo joined, it could "ensure that we will not make any anti-American decision or policies."

The caucus, first broached by Mr. Mahathir in 1990, has gained the backing of China, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Brunei.

Malaysia sees the caucus as a means of protecting East Asian economic interests and as a counterweight to the larger APEC group.

Washington and Canberra worry that the East Asia Economic Caucus would split the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and undermine prospects for building a broad Pacific community based on free trade and investment.

"We just need a straight answer from Japan," Rafidah Aziz, the Malaysian international trade and industry minister, said in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. "Does Japan want to be a member of East Asia? If it doesn't, it should say so."

To the embarrassment of Japanese diplomats, not a single Asian country expressed support last month at the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York for Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

This reticence, analysts said, appeared to reflect either mistrust of Japan or concern that its membership would increase the domination of the council by developed nations.

In a recent interview, Ali Alatas, the Indonesian foreign minister, said that Jakarta could accept Japan and Germany as permanent members of the council, but without veto rights, only if "a few developing countries" were taken in at the same time.

Although China has not expressed a view about Japan joining the council, an influential Shanghai newspaper, Wen Hui Bao, said in a recent commentary that Tokyo was not qualified to join the ranks of the permanent members.

The paper said that this was not only because of Japan's history of aggression against other Asian nations but also because it had failed to win their confidence.

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