JAPAN has agreed to stand with South Korea and the United States on thorny territorial disputes in the South China Sea, but political instability at home could scuttle the trilateral cooperation.
A joint press statement released after talks between foreign minister Takeaki Matsumoto and his US and South Korean counterparts called for the three nations to cooperate to help defuse tensions between China and some Southeast Asian countries over territorial disputes in the sea.
After the ministerial talks on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Regional Forum at Nusa Dua on the island resort of Bali on Saturday, Mr Matsumoto said: 'Japan is very interested in what goes on in the South China Sea, and we are concerned with the current situation in this region.' He added that Japan hopes competing territorial claims in the region would be 'peacefully resolved in accordance with international law'.
Mr Matsumoto's remarks were apparently aimed at China's declaration of sovereignty over the South China Sea, which contains some of the world's busiest shipping lanes. The foreign minister's position echoed that of the United States, which has called on all sides in the disputes to provide 'legal evidence' to back up their territorial claims.
Japanese government sources said the details of how Japan, the United States and South Korea will work with each other on the South China Sea issue will be fleshed out ahead of the East Asia Summit in Indonesia in November. The government had earlier planned to formulate a Japanese-US cooperation framework along with the 10 Asean member countries to press China to abide by international rules to ensure the freedom of navigation and peaceful settlement of maritime conflicts in the region.
Tokyo has been concerned that if Asean makes easy concessions to China in crafting rules about maritime safety in the South China Sea, there could be repercussions for territorial issues in the East China Sea--including the Senkaku Islands, which have strained ties between Japan and China, the sources said. The government was pleased that the joint statement indicated the three nations would monitor the drawing up of maritime rules between China and Asean, according to the sources. -- THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN/ANN
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