Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is taking advantage of Golden Week, a week of public holidays in Japan, to make an extended tour of Southeast Asia to convince his nations to adopt a common position against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. But also to counter the push of China in the region.
With our correspondent in Tokyo, Frederic Charles
After Indonesia and Vietnam, Fumio Kishida arrives in Thailand on Sunday May 1 with the hope of bringing its leaders out of their neutrality. In Southeast Asia, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida does not seek to create a common front against Russia and China. He only wants to formulate a common security policy, so that the Indo-Pacific region is free and accessible to all.
And he reminds every Southeast Asian country he visits that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of international laws protecting its sovereignty and that China is already exerting, close to their borders, pressure and claims that some open sea areas or the Taiwan Strait belong to it.
Japan wants to define with Southeast Asia a common strategy taking into account the reality of a region dependent on China for its economic growth and which does not consider Russia as a direct military threat.
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