960417

Asia welcomes

renewed US

commitment to

region's security

MANILA: Asian nations welcomed on Wednesday President Bill Clinton's renewed commitment to the region's security but sounded a note of caution on any expanded role for the Japanese military.

"That is very, very welcome," Philippine President Fidel Ramos said of Clinton's pledge after his Tokyo summit with Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to maintain the strength of U.S. forces in the region at their current level of 100,000.

Officials and defence analysts around Asia say an unequivocal reaffirmation of the U.S. military commitment will sooth fears over what many see as a newly assertive China eager to cement its superpower status with the end of the Cold war.

China's muscle-flexing over Taiwan, its continued territorial claims to vast areas of the South China Sea and increased defence spending have all contributed to perceptions that the region's security is nowhere near as robust as its economic prosperity.

But in many parts of Asia trepidation over China's superpower ambitions are matched by a reluctance to see a resurgence of Japanese military assertiveness.

South Korea's Yonhap domestic news agency said in a commentary that Asian countries with bitter memories of Japan's World War Two militarism were afraid of any expanded role for its armed forces.

The U.S.-Japan declaration issued after the summit underlines the role Tokyo is expected to play as Washington's partner in bolstering regional security.

Tinnakorn Kannasutr, deputy chief of the Thai foreign ministry's information department, said Bangkok would not like to see any change in the current roles of the Japanese military which is constitutionally confined to domestic functions unless operating in a U.N. framework.

"We believe current Japanese roles are conducive to regional security. Japanese presence in Asia outside its constitutional framework should be made through the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), a stage designed for settling regional armed disputes through dialogues," he said.

ASEAN groups Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Bruce Gale, Singapore-based regional manager of Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd, said many in Asia are comfortable with a continued American role because of the latent tensions and rivalries within the region itself.

"The American presence will be regarded as a stabilising factor," he said.

Most analysts said that despite their growing economic power and their reluctance to be seen as U.S. pawns, Asian nations were pragmatic enough to realise they had little choice but to rely on the U.S. security umbrella.-Reruter