Japan Snubs Asia In a Bow to U.S.
International Herald Tribune
April 15, 1995
Michael Richardson 

Caught between its close ties to Asia and not wanting to offend the United States, Japan has decided to demonstrate priority to its relations with America by refusing to attend an "Asians only" meeting of economic and trade ministers late this month.

The meeting, opposed by Washington on the grounds that it would be divisive, was to have brought together ministers from Japan, China, South Korea and ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Analysts said Friday that Tokyo was particularly wary of taking any action that would upset Washington.

Senior Japanese and American officials are to resume talks Monday on opening Japan's auto market to U.S. exports. Cars and car parts accounted for 60 percent of the record $66 billion U.S. trade deficit with Japan last year and the Clinton administration has threatened to impose punitive tariffs if the talks fail.

Japan also wants to advance trans-Pacific cooperation and is concerned that the East Asia Economic Caucus, strongly promoted by Malaysia and endorsed by ASEAN, could undermine this objective despite assurances to the contrary from Kuala Lumpur.

Mahathir bin Mohamad, the prime minister of Malaysia, said that the caucus was not intended to comprise an exclusive trade bloc, but to be "merely a consultative forum" for East Asian countries to discuss economic problems and free trade.

"Japan, as possibly the strongest member, can ensure that this will always be so," he said, adding that Tokyo's special relations with Washington were "not incompatible" with the caucus.

However, officials said that Japan had advised Thailand, which is host to the meeting on Phuket, that it would not attend after Malaysia vetoed a proposal by Tokyo that ministers from Australia and New Zealand also be invited.

Japan wanted to ensure that the meeting could not be interpreted as the formation of an Asians-only caucus.

"We cannot help but defer our participation," Tomio Tsutsumi, Japan's deputy minister of international trade and industry, said.

Ryutaro Hashimoto, Japan's minister of international trade and industry, was invited to attend the Phuket meeting, along with his counterparts from China and South Korea.

But he told Thailand he could not attend unless he was assured that the divisive issue of the caucus was not raised, Thai officials said.

Japan's action will be welcomed by the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which have expressed reservations about the meeting.

U.S. officials have warned that if the caucus is formed it could cause divisions in APEC, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

APEC, which the Clinton administration sees as the key organization for liberalizing trade and investment in the region, has 18 members including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea as well as ASEAN members.

Japan is the current chairman of APEC and will be host to the annual meeting in Osaka in November.

Tokyo's decision not to attend the Phuket meeting reportedly has infuriated Malaysia and may prompt Mr. Mahathir to boycott the Osaka summit meeting, Malaysian officials said.

Writing in a Japanese newspaper, Mr. Mahathir said that Japan's membership of the caucus would be seen by other East Asian countries as "a genuine helpful act."

It would be "much more meaningful than a thousand apologies for the events which took place more than half a century ago," Mr. Mahathir added, referring to Japan's brutal and aggressive behavior in East Asia before and during World War II.

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