Japan shares PHL concern on lack of ASEAN joint communiqué – VP Binay

By OVP Media
July 19, 2012

MANILA  –  Vice President Jejomar C. Binay on Wednesday said Japan shares the Philippines’ concern over the recent failure of the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to agree on a code of conduct in the West Philippine Sea.

The Vice President arrived Wednesday night from a three-day trip in Tokyo where he gave the keynote to an international cybersecurity conference.

Binay said Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada expressed concern over the failure to issue a joint communiqué during the ASEAN meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, but hoped that ASEAN would continue discussing the issue among its members, and between themselves and China.

“Japan, as you know, has its own problems with China, concerning Senkaku Islands, which are controlled by Japan but claimed by China. Some kind of tension has recently arisen after it was reported that the Japanese government plans to purchase the islands from their private Japanese owner, and nationalize them. This has provoked a reaction from Beijing,” he said.

The Vice President said that there was a need “to share ideas on how to enhance the prospects for a peaceful solution” given the common problem that the two countries appeared to be facing at this time with China with respect to territorial disputes.

“I assured the Deputy Prime Minister that the Philippines will continue its search for a peaceful solution to the problem, based on international law,” he added.

Meanwhile, Binay said he also received some proposals on how to speed up the growth of Japan-Philippines relations, including how to fast-track the program for Filipino nurses and caregivers going to Japan, the creation of sister-city relationships between Philippine and Japanese cities, and the establishment of retirement centers for the Japanese elderly in the Philippines.