Japanese Prime Minister Abe pledges to support Myanmar’s reforms; Japanese Defense Ministry transports PAC-3 missiles for permanent deployment in Okinawa; Japanese Prime Minister insists on ratcheting up international political pressure on North Korea; C
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    • According to reports, during his recent meeting with Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to support Myanmar in promoting further reforms, especially in the development of educational infrastructure. While citing the Japanese companies’ growing interest in investing in Myanmar, Abe expressed hope that such a step could be instrumental in creating jobs within the country. 1

    Reports noted that the Japanese Defense Ministry has started transporting the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles for their permanent deployment in the Okinawa prefecture. While the deployment of the surface-to-air missiles was initially scheduled to take place by the end of March 2015, the transfer was pushed forward keeping in mind any potential North Korean missile launches. 2

    According to reports, Japanese Prime Minister Abe has insisted on strengthening of international political pressure as well as economic sanctions on North Korea as the belligerency of the latter continues to grow. He argued that such a step could compel the North Korean regime to rethink its current policy. 3

    According to reports, the recently released Chinese Defense White Paper has accused Japan of creating trouble by nationalizing the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku islands. Tokyo however promptly responded to this allegation by reiterating Japan’s territorial sovereignty over those islands. 4 It is worth noting however that only recently Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang expressed that his country’s economic development could become largely possible due to Japanese cooperation. He in fact pledged to promote negotiations for a trilateral FTA involving China, Japan and South Korea. 5

    In other developments, reports noted that NATO Secretary General Anders Rasmussen visited Tokyo on April 15. During his visit, Rasmussen signed a joint declaration with Tokyo pledging greater joint cooperation in disaster relief, counterterrorism, nonproliferation, maritime security measures and especially counter-piracy. 6

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