Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday conveyed Japan's stance and view of South China Sea disputes to his Laotian counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith, who chaired a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations debating the issue, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.
The ASEAN meeting was the first held since an international tribunal ruled in a case brought by the Philippines, denying China's vast territorial claims in the South China Sea.
While the ministry official declined to reveal in detail what Kishida said in his talks with his Laotian counterpart, the official confirmed that Japan's foreign minister conveyed Japan's stance.
Kishida arrived in the Laotian capital of Vientiane earlier in the day to attend a series of regional meetings involving the 10-member bloc, where the South China Sea is a hot topic amid regional tensions stirred by China's military buildup and growing assertiveness at sea.
The international tribunal ruling handed down earlier this month denied China's claims to historic and economic rights over almost all of the South China Sea. China has rejected the ruling and vowed to continue protecting its rights in the waters.
In his second meeting with the Laotian minister in two months, Kishida said Japan will fully support Laos' development in the energy and farming sectors, the official said.
The two countries are strengthening ties as some 130 Japanese companies had a presence in Laos as of last month, more than twice the approximately 60 in 2012.
Japan is not a claimant in the South China Sea disputes between China and five other countries in the region, but it is concerned about China's rising military presence in the resource-rich area which is also a busy shipping lane.
Tokyo also faces challenges from Beijing related to its claim to the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the neighboring East China Sea.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Ahead of the Japan-Laos talks, Kishida met with Myanmar's foreign minister and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and assured her of Tokyo's full support for Myanmar's new administration launched in March, the first democratically elected government in more than 50 years, the foreign ministry official said.
Kishida reiterated Japan's request for Suu Kyi to visit Japan, and she expressed enthusiasm to make the trip, according to the official.
==Kyodo
25/7/16
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- Japan has said the ruling is binding on parties to the dispute, namely China and the Philippines, and calls for a peaceful resolution to rival territorial disputes in the area, and compliance to international law.
While the ministry official declined to reveal in detail what Kishida said in his talks with his Laotian counterpart, the official confirmed that Japan's foreign minister conveyed Japan's stance.
Kishida arrived in the Laotian capital of Vientiane earlier in the day to attend a series of regional meetings involving the 10-member bloc, where the South China Sea is a hot topic amid regional tensions stirred by China's military buildup and growing assertiveness at sea.
The international tribunal ruling handed down earlier this month denied China's claims to historic and economic rights over almost all of the South China Sea. China has rejected the ruling and vowed to continue protecting its rights in the waters.
- Japan is eager to closely cooperate with Laos, which is seen as pro-China due to its dependence on investment and financial assistance from the world's second-largest economy.
In his second meeting with the Laotian minister in two months, Kishida said Japan will fully support Laos' development in the energy and farming sectors, the official said.
The two countries are strengthening ties as some 130 Japanese companies had a presence in Laos as of last month, more than twice the approximately 60 in 2012.
Japan is not a claimant in the South China Sea disputes between China and five other countries in the region, but it is concerned about China's rising military presence in the resource-rich area which is also a busy shipping lane.
Tokyo also faces challenges from Beijing related to its claim to the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the neighboring East China Sea.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Ahead of the Japan-Laos talks, Kishida met with Myanmar's foreign minister and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and assured her of Tokyo's full support for Myanmar's new administration launched in March, the first democratically elected government in more than 50 years, the foreign ministry official said.
Kishida reiterated Japan's request for Suu Kyi to visit Japan, and she expressed enthusiasm to make the trip, according to the official.
==Kyodo
25/7/16
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