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Japan, US will expand

mly ties to deal with

Asian emergencies

TOKYO: Japan and the United States will expand military ties to deal with emergencies in Asia amid recent tensions between China and Taiwan and continued uncertainty on the Korean peninsula, a newspaper said on Thursday.

The Asahi Shimbun said the new guidelines on regional military cooperation would be included in bilateral security documents to be signed later this month by Japan's Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and US President Bill Clinton.

Whereas current guidelines under a bilateral security treaty signed in 1960 are strictly designed to handle emergencies in Japan, the new guidelines will "deal with emergencies in the Far East," government sources reportedly said.

The sources said the documents would reconfirm the importance of the bilateral security system in light of new regional tensions, including the recent confrontation in the Taiwan Strait and tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The documents to be signed during Clinton's visit to Japan from April 16 will mention such instability as proof of the need for strong Japan-US security ties but will not mention China or North Korea by name, the Asahi said.

The newspaper said the documents would also urge the two countries to reach an agreement on providing each other with military goods and services.

Japan's defence agency declined to confirm the report. "Talks are still underway," an agency official said.

The two countries reportedly agreed Wednesday on the content of an aquisition and cross-servicing accord to be applied to peacetime joint exercises and UN peacekeeping operations.

Under the agreement, Japan and United States forces will share payment for goods and services except for ammunition, Kyodo News said.

The Japanese cabinet is expected to approve the pact by April 16, the same day Clinton arrives in Japan. The agreement is expected to be signed by Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda and US Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale.

The government is expected to submit related bills, including one to revise the Self-Defense Forces, to parliament in late April.-AFP