Joint strategies eyed to counter China's designs on territories
Japan plans to host a special
summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations late next year to
strengthen maritime security cooperation at a time when China is rapidly
expanding its naval capacity in Asia, government sources said Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba
will probably announce the plan at the Japan-ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting
Wednesday in Cambodia, the sources said.
At the special summit, Japan and
ASEAN are to issue a joint communique to serve as a new guideline for boosting
maritime security ties and map out a subsequent action plan, they said.
Japan and ASEAN have held summits
every year since 2009, but this would be only the second in Japan. The first
was in December 2003.
Concerns over Beijing's growing
assertiveness in resource-rich Asian waters have been growing. Chinese boats
have repeatedly been spotted in Japan's contiguous zone near the Senkaku
Islands in the East China Sea. The uninhabited islets are under the
jurisdiction of Okinawa but are claimed by China and Taiwan.
ASEAN countries have meanwhile
been involved in disputes with China over maritime borders in the South China
Sea.
Japan's desire to hold the
special summit reflects its belief that its ASEAN counterparts have a common
interest in maritime security, the sources said.
Japan and its summit partners
will also probably agree to boost economic ties in the joint communique as the
ASEAN region is aiming to create an economic community by 2015.
Kyodo
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