[Vnbiz] Japan offers aid, rights reminder to Mekong nations

[Tai Phan]

Japan offers aid, rights reminder to Mekong nations

by Kyoko Hasegawa Wed Jan 16, 11:14 AM ET

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan on Wednesday offered fresh aid to Mekong River nations
while issuing a gentle reminder on human rights as it sought to counter
China's growing influence in the region.
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The foreign minister of Myanmar, which faced heavy international criticism
for its crackdown on pro-democracy protests last year, joined his
counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam for their first joint
talks with Japan.

"Japan has been attaching great importance to the Mekong region, and will
make further efforts to realise latent growth potential in the region,"
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told the foreign ministers in a meeting.

"At the same time, we would like to encourage each country to use its wisdom
in terms of human rights and democratisation," Fukuda said, to which Nyan
Win, the foreign minister of Myanmar, nodded, taking notes.

The ministers signed a series of deals late Wednesday, including one worth
20 million dollars aimed at encouraging investment and developing
infrastructure in the poorest parts of the region.

The aid deals include funding for infrastructure such as highways stretching
across the region, officials said. Japan also signed a deal with Laos to
encourage investment in the country.

Tokyo, which has had uneasy ties with China and South Korea dating back to
Japan's past invasions, has long treated Southeast Asia as a key region of
influence by lavishing development aid and trade deals.

But more recently "the presence of China -- and also South Korea -- in this
region is very big," said a Japanese official who handles Southeast Asian
matters.

"China has borders with all these countries except for Cambodia, and
excluding Thailand, the trade volumes with China are bigger than the trade
volumes with Japan for these countries," he said on condition of anonymity.

Complicating the meeting is the issue of Myanmar, which counts on China as
its main ally.

Japan has refused Western calls to end aid to military-ruled Myanmar, and
this week pledged 1.79 million dollars to improve public health there.

In October, Japan cancelled nearly five million dollars in aid in protest at
the military's bloody crackdown on rallies, in which a Japanese journalist
was killed.

Scot Marciel, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia,
called Tuesday on a visit to Tokyo for all nations, including Japan and
China, to send a united message to Myanmar's junta leaders that they are
heading in the "wrong direction."

Human Rights Watch also wrote to Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura urging
Japan to address human rights concerns in Southeast Asian countries, saying
Tokyo's concerns should extend beyond Myanmar.

"Governments chronically restrict freedom of expression, widely discriminate
against ethnic minorities, pillage natural resources at the expense of local
populations and provide impunity for those responsible for abuses," said
Brad Adams, executive director of the rights group's Asia division.

"Given your government's relationship with each of the Mekong countries, and
as a leading democratic power, we believe Japan can and should bring about
significant improvements by speaking out clearly and publicly on human
rights abuses," Adams said
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