Kan says Japan's future hinges on Asia-Pacific ties+

YOKOHAMA, Nov. 14 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Sunday that Japan's future prosperity hinges on
whether it can build closer ties with China and other Asia-Pacific countries,
although there may be some difficult issues.
''Japan no longer has overwhelming economic power in Asia...so it needs to be
firmly connected also economically with other countries in the Asia-Pacific
region and find ways to grow and develop with them,'' Kan told a news
conference in Yokohama after hosting the two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum through Sunday.
Some of the difficult problems that Kan mentioned include a recent diplomatic
spat with China in connection with rival claims to a chain of islets in the
East China Sea.
Kan said he ''clearly'' told Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday that the
Senkaku Islands are ''an integral part of our territory and that thereby there
is no territorial issue in this area,'' when they met bilaterally on the
margins of the APEC summit.
But Kan said the two should overcome ''some problems'' including the dispute
and that Japan is hoping for further advancement of its ties with China.
Kan also said Japan wants to calmly address the problem of stalled shipments of
rare earth minerals, used in many high-tech products, from China.
Ties between Asia's two biggest economies have frayed after Japan arrested in
September a Chinese captain whose trawler collided with Japanese patrol boats
near the islets, known in China as the Diaoyu.
The summit between Kan and Hu, which Tokyo calls the first ''formal'' one since
the collisions, was arranged at the last minute and only lasted for about 20
minutes. The Japanese government on Saturday refused to disclose in great
detail what the two discussed concerning the islands.
Kan said he believes Japan-China relations, because of the meeting, have moved
back to where they were when he became prime minister in June.
The islands have been administrated by Japan for decades but are claimed by
China. After the ship collisions, officials in Tokyo said China blocked exports
of rare earth minerals.
Japan's ties with Russia, an APEC member, have also soured after President
Dmitry Medvedev visited one of four Russian-held islands located off Hokkaido,
which are claimed by Japan, on Nov. 1.
Kan said he protested to Medvedev over his trip to Kunashiri Island during his
one-on-one meeting, which took place shortly after the one with Hu on Saturday.
But Kan said that ''by deepening economic ties'' he believes most likely there
will be ''positive effects on territorial issues.''
''If you also look at other countries that are located next to each other, many
problems remain today,'' Kan said. ''But that does not mean that the two
countries are ceasing economic, cultural and human exchanges.''
On a path to further integrating Japan into the world's most economically
robust region, Kan said agricultural reform is unavoidable.
''I believe revitalization of Japanese agriculture is possible. Of course,
reform will entail some pains,'' Kan said. ''But I want to begin with farm
reform and strike a balance between this effort and an attempt to further
liberalize Japanese trade.''
Kan was invited Sunday to a leaders' meeting of nine countries planning to be
part of a trans-Pacific free trade agreement as an observer.
Kan told the news conference that many countries at the meeting welcomed
Japan's interest in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and asked it to decide as
soon as possible on joining the U.S.-backed multilateral free trade framework.
Kan said he told them that Japan is strongly committed to making its trade
freer in the years to come.
Kan said the APEC summit in Yokohama, a major port city that has the biggest
Chinatown in Japan, will ''add a new big page in the history of our country''
toward opening itself up again to the rest of the world.
==Kyodo
2010-11-14 21:43:21