Japan seeks Southeast Asian consensus on Russia and China

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has embarked on a tour of Southeast Asian countries, passing through Indonesia, where he met President Joko Widodo in Bogor, April 29, 2022. © Laily Rachev, Indonesian President Palace via PA

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

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.

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With our correspondent in Tokyo,

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

.

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

and claims that certain open sea areas or the Taiwan Strait belong to him.

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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• Japan

• Diplomacy

• China

• Thailand

• Taiwan

• Vietnam

• Indonesia

• Fumio Kishida