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Clinton looks to

bolster security

ties with Japan

WASHINGTON: Buoyed by increases in US exports to Japan, President Bill Clinton goes to Tokyo this week looking to bolster the U.S.-Japan security relationship in an increasingly volatile region.

With communist North Korea and China casting a long shadow in East Asia, the United States and Japan are concentrating on shoring up security ties soured by the heavy U.S. military presence in Okinawa.

Clinton's three-day trip to Tokyo marks a rare instance where a U.S.-Japan summit will focus on defence ties instead of trade feuds.

It is the first state visit by a U.S. president to Japan since George Bush collapsed and vomited at a state dinner in January 1992 to end a disastrous trip that he had wanted to be devoted to bringing home "jobs, jobs, jobs."

Experts say defence ties are being emphasised this time because trade frictions have eased somewhat, and because the Japanese would rather gloss over some fairly contentious disputes dealing with U.S. access to Japan's markets for insurance, film and computer chips.

"The Japanese at this point would prefer to emphasise the security side because there are some contentious trade issues and I don't think the Japanese are ready to move on them," said Naotaka Matsukata, director of Asian research at the Economic Strategy Institute.

While in Japan, Clinton will bless a plan by a U.S.-Japanese commission to remove some U.S. troops from Okinawa, where the rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl last September by three U.S. servicemen sparked bitter protests against the American military presence.

He and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto will sign a joint security declaration outlining a framework for defence cooperation for the foreseeable future that maintains an American toehold in the Pacific.

To show support for the 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan, Clinton will address servicemen in a visit to the aircraft carrier Independence in the port of Yokosuka.

U.S. officials and experts see the U.S.-Japanese relationship maturing, going beyond mere trade battles to a greater appreciation for the importance of maintaining a steady, long-term relationship where trade is only one pillar.

A driving force behind this development is the recent unrest in the region lingering from the Cold War: China's threats against Taiwan; North Korea's sending troops across the demilitarized zone with South Korea, and a feared resurgence of Russian nationalism.

"I think recent events in Northeast Asia have strengthened the perceptions in Japan, in this country and in the region about the importance of this alliance," said Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord.

Added a White House official: "The relationship is changing in the post-Cold War period. The U.S. is urging Japan to be more visible in its security role in Asia. The two countries are able to have an enormous amount of clout that will enable them to make progress on things like disaster relief, AIDS, terrorism, other things that we can do better in common than we can do separately."-Reuter