Japan Seeks to Strengthen Cooperation with ASEAN

Manila, July 22 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi expressed a desire to strengthen cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, at a meeting with his counterparts from ASEAN countries in Manila on Wednesday.

Motegi said ASEAN is "at the core" of realizing Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision, which was proposed by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about a decade ago. Current Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has pledged to further develop the FOIP vision.

Japan aims to deepen cooperation with ASEAN nations for this purpose and "become stronger and more prosperous together" with them, Motegi added.

The foreign minister also emphasized Japan's strong opposition to "any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion," in an apparent reference to China.

On the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, which ASEAN aims to establish with China, Motegi said he strongly hopes that this would be consistent with the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]