Japan, ASEAN defense officials discuss 'nontraditional' security

TOKYO, March 17 Kyodo - Senior defense officials from Japan and the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met Tuesday to discuss ''nontraditional'' security issues facing their region such as disaster mitigation.

The conference, called the ''Meeting of Senior Defense Officials on Common
Security Challenges in the Asia-Pacific Region,'' was the first of its kind
held among senior defense officials of the countries concerned, Defense
Ministry officials said.
Chaired by Japanese Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda, the meeting covered
issues including anti-disaster cooperation, maritime security and international
peacekeeping operations.
ASEAN officials appeared particularly interested in the role Japan's
Self-Defense Forces could play in ''capacity building'' in the fields of
anti-disaster cooperation and peacekeeping operations, the officials said.
Some participants also asked about anti-piracy operations off the coast of
Somalia as Japan and some ASEAN member countries including Singapore have sent
naval vessels to join the international effort, they said.
The one-day meeting in Tokyo purposely avoided traditional, military security
issues, mainly because a meeting of this kind could prompt concerns that it
might be an effort to counter China, a senior ministry official said.
''We're planning to hold this meeting on a regular basis. From next year, we'll
try to build concrete cooperation by narrowing down discussion topics,'' he
said.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
==Kyodo