MANILA - Japan on Thursday pledged greater cooperation on energy security and efforts to combat online scams in a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China and South Korea.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi outlined Japan's contributions in those areas at the meeting with his ASEAN counterparts and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, Japan's Foreign Ministry said. China was represented by Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying, who attended the gathering in place of Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
"The combined GDP of the ASEAN-plus-three countries now accounts for more than a quarter of the global economy, giving the grouping an increasingly important role in promoting regional and global stability and prosperity," Motegi said in his opening remarks.
He said Japan supports ASEAN centrality, unity and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, or AOIP, an initiative adopted by ASEAN aimed at maintaining peace, freedom and prosperity in the region.
Motegi added that Tokyo's free and open Indo-Pacific vision shares key principles with AOIP and that Japan will coordinate with China and South Korea to promote the initiative through ASEAN-plus-three cooperation.
Participants also highlighted the need to strengthen energy supply networks in the region in response to the situation in the Middle East, according to the ministry.
The ASEAN-plus-three framework was established in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis to promote practical cooperation among its members. Leaders of the grouping last met at a summit in Malaysia in October.
Motegi later met with newly appointed British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and expressed hope that Tokyo and London would continue working together to address global challenges under Prime Minister Andy Burnham's new government.
Motegi also exchanged views with his Philippine counterpart Maria Theresa Lazaro on regional and international issues, including those surrounding the South China Sea, where China claims sovereignty over most waters, including areas also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
