Thailand hopes that Sunday's discussion between Asean and Japan about solving disputes in the South China Sea will tread carefully to avoid any problems with Beijing.
Japanese and Asean leaders are attending the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of Asean-Japan Friendship and Cooperation in Tokyo, and the South China Sea issue is scheduled to be discussed.
“Thailand respects the independence of every country and it needs to tread carefully to avoid any problem,” Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who is an Asean coordinator, said on Saturday.
“If any problem occurs [in the South China Sea], it can disrupt the maritime transport system there,” he added. “There are also about 60,000 Thai workers in Taiwan, so we don’t want the conflict there to get out of hand.”
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, a vital trade corridor, and its increasingly aggressive behaviour in the area, also claimed by Southeast Asian nations, has stoked regional tensions.
Close US ally Japan, which also has competing territorial claims with China over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, has boosted security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan agreed last month to help the Philippines — which has seen a spate of incidents involving Chinese vessels in recent weeks — by securing new coast guard vessels, supplying a radar system and starting talks on a deal for deploying troops on each other’s soil.
According to a draft final statement from the summit seen by AFP, Japan and Asean will commit to “[strengthen] security cooperation, including maritime security cooperation”.
Leaders are also expected to stress the need for a “rules-based Indo-Pacific region that is free and open”, the peaceful settlement of disputes and respect for territorial integrity.
Meanwhile, Mr Srettha on Saturday held talks with Norihiko Ishiguro, chairman of the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), Thai government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said.
The PM commended Jetro for its crucial role in strengthening trade ties and investment between the two countries.
Mr Srettha also praised Jetro for its economic research and efforts to spread information regarding Thailand’s investment promotion policy to Japanese investors, which helps attract many businesspeople to invest, the spokesman said.
Jetro’s chairman said he was glad to meet Mr Srettha, and that Jetro is ready to further boost trade and investments between the two countries and promote cooperation in such areas as open innovation and human resources development, Mr Chai said.
Mr Srettha then met executives of Kubota Corporation, which manufactures and sells agricultural machines, products for water and environmental systems and other industrial and consumer products worldwide.
Both sides discussed possible cooperation, including the use of the company’s technology to boost agricultural productivity to cut costs and increase income for farmers, Mr Chai said.
Regarding Thailand’s Land Bridge megaproject, Mr Srettha said it is not intended to rival ports in Singapore or Malaysia, but it will help support regional and global maritime transport.
The number of ships passing through the Strait of Malacca is increasing as sea traffic there is congested, he said, adding the project is expected to take 10 years to complete and by that time the volume of global maritime trade will have increased.
Mr Srettha is also inviting Japanese businesses to invest in the project.
Mr Srettha on Friday posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Apple CEO Tim Cook had sent a letter confirming future cooperation between Apple and Thailand.
“Today, I have good news. I received a letter from Apple CEO Tim Cook which refers to a meeting when I travelled to San Francisco [to attend the Apec summit] last month,” the prime minister said. “He wrote in the letter that Thailand has the potential and is well-equipped.
“With the government’s support in areas such as education, the industrial sector and labour, I am confident the collaboration with Apple will materialise,” he added.
“This is the outcome of the government’s efforts to restore confidence among foreign investors.”