Japan’s Motegi pledges aid to Mekong countries, champions Indo-Pacific as Asean tour ends

Tokyo is seeking to boost ties with Southeast Asia amid US-China tensions and its efforts to diversify supply chains, analysts say

Japan’s Foreign Minister also promoted a rules-based approach to resolving disputes as Beijing ramps up its assertiveness in the South China Sea

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Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 6:00am, 25 Aug 2020Updated: 9:53pm, 25 Aug 2020

Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi wrapped up his visits to five Southeast Asian countries and Papua New Guinea to reassure leaders of Tokyo’s support during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as discuss lifting travel bans and new economic opportunities.

His tour, which began on August 13 and was done in two parts, ended in Myanmar on Monday after he met the country’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time.

As both agreed to reopen borders for expatriates and relax travel restrictions, Motegi pledged loans of 30 billion yen (US$283 million) as emergency budget support and 15 billion yen to help small and medium-sized firms hit by the economic downturn, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

Motegi held similar discussions in Cambodia and Laos over the weekend: in Vientiane, he promised grant aid totalling nearly 2 billion yen to upgrade schools and a further 500 million yen for a fleet of buses, while in Phnom Penh, he said Japan would continue supporting the country’s economic development through the construction of an “economic corridor” or road linking Thailand and Vietnam, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh on August 22, 2020. Photo: AFP

The message from Motegi, a trusted lieutenant to and possible successor of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, comes at a time when China is ramping up its influence and assertiveness in the region, including in the South China Sea, and during a low point in relations between Beijing and Tokyo over issues such as the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands and the East China Sea.

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