Japan, China to vie for Asian influence at summit

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BANGKOK, Apr 8 (AFP): China and Japan will battle for influence in Southeast Asia at a key summit this week, holding out the promise of economic aid as the region reels from the impact of the global downturn.
The Asian giants are trying to win not only the lion's share of the market of more than five hundred million people but also the hearts and minds of the region to expand their diplomatic and political sway.
Tokyo and Beijing are the biggest contributors to a massive currency swap fund designed to provide emergency liquidity, which will be discussed at the three-day summit starting on Friday in the Thai resort of Pattaya.
But they will be making separate efforts to woo the region, with China looking to capitalise on its continued growth despite the global meltdown even as Japan tries to mitigate its worst post-war recession.
Analysts said the summit-grouping the Association of Southeast Asian nations with regional partners China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand-would be an indication of the way the wind is blowing.
"At the summit, the countries will probably remain in a cooperative tune to cope with the economic crisis. But in the long term, China will expand its economic power in the region over Japan," said Yoshinobu Yamamoto, professor of international politics at Japan's Aoyama Gakuin University.
While Japan has traditionally relied on "soft power" and aid programmes, China is still widely seen as wielding its growing economic and military might in a bid to accumulate natural resources for its rapid expansion.
Political ties between the Asian giants are currently good after tensions over their wartime past and territorial disputes, and the summit this week will give the Chinese and Japanese premiers a chance to meet.
But there are continuing concerns in ASEAN about China's ambitions.
In southeast Asia, China has invested heavily in military- ruled Myanmar's rich resources and in return has acted as one of the junta's closest political allies and biggest suppliers of weapons.
Yet Japan still retains the most influence over the region,
said Wang Qin, a professor with the research center of Southeast
Asia studies at China's Xiamen university.
"China is rising and its influence in Southeast Asia is growing, but China so far cannot replace Japan as the most influential nation in southeast Asia," Wang said.
Japan has already agreed to lend up to 100 billion dollars to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide financial lifelines to emerging economies hit hard by the worldwide downturn.
Prime Minister Taro Aso also has announced a massive 1.5 trillion yen (15 billion dollars) in foreign aid to Asia, in support of developing countries to help the region survive the global financial crisis.
"Japan has made contributions to stabilise currencies and inject capital into struggling financial institutions," Yamamoto said.
"On the other hand, China is trying to boost domestic demand, which will help increase trade with Asian countries."