AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Wed Jun 28, 2:28 AM ET
Japan and ASEAN plot against terrorism
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan and ASEAN have launched their first talks on cooperating
against terrorism as Tokyo seeks to boost its presence in Southeast Asia.
Officials from Japan and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations will
meet for two days on ways "to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation in the
ASEAN region," a foreign ministry statement said.
Talks are expected to focus on how Japan can help ASEAN to exchange information
on terrorism, tighten immigration controls, strengthen maritime patrols and improve
investigation technology.
Japan decided earlier this month to donate three patrol boats to Indonesia to help fight
terrorism and piracy, breaking another taboo for the officially pacifist country.
Japan in 2004 lifted a decades-old ban on exporting weapons so it could better
collaborate with the United States in developing missile defenses. North Korea fired a
missile over Japan in 1998 and is reported to be preparing a new long-range launch.
The boats to Indonesia, which are worth 1.92 billion yen (16.8 million dollars), mark
Japan's first exports to a third country since it lifted the ban.
Japan has focused on building relations with Southeast Asia as ties remain tense with
closer neighbors China and South Korea due to wartime memories.
Japan also has a major economic interest in security of the Malacca Strait, as nearly
all of the oil destined to Asia's largest economy passes through it.
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