Ishiba to hold talks with several leaders on ASEAN sidelines

Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will hold talks this week on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Laos, a top official said Tuesday, meeting China's premier among others according to media reports.

Sino-Japan relations have deteriorated in recent years over territorial disputes and military activity, with Ishiba calling for the creation of an Asian NATO.

Ishiba will visit Laos from Thursday through Saturday "to attend ASEAN-related summits", deputy chief cabinet secretary Keiichiro Tachibana said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc.

On the sidelines of the multilateral meetings, Ishiba plans to have bilateral summits which are still being coordinated, Tachibana told reporters.

Media reports said these will include talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese of Australia.

"ASEAN-related summits are important forums where major countries in the Indo-Pacific region gather," Tachibana said.

"Through these meetings Japan will confirm that we will strengthen Japan-ASEAN cooperation as ASEAN's trustworthy partner," he said.

In addition to one-on-one talks, Ishiba will on Thursday attend an ASEAN Plus Three summit that comprises the 10 ASEAN members as well as Japan, China and South Korea, Tachibana said.

On Friday, Ishiba will attend the East Asia Summit for a grouping that has 18 members including ASEAN Plus Three members and Australia, India, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

The same day Ishiba will host the second Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) summit, where leaders are expected to discuss "achieving carbon-free, economic growth and energy security," the spokesman said.

AZEC was created in 2022 by Ishiba's predecessor Fumio Kishida, aimed according to Tokyo at accelerating decarbonization in Asia.

But critics say it is in reality aimed at persuading other countries to buy Japanese technologies that prolong their dependence on fossil fuels.

Research published by Zero Carbon Analytics last week found that over a third of the agreements signed under AZEC so far are related to fossil fuel technologies.

These include liquified natural gas, ammonia co-firing with coal plants, and carbon capture and storage which have "much higher lifecycle emissions than solar and wind", Zero Carbon Analytics researcher Amy Kong said.