In August 1977 then Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda in Manila gave a speech on Japan's Asia diplomacy. Under what was later called the Fukuda doctrine, Japan promised to refrain from becoming a military power, to pursue "heart-to-heart" relationships of mutual trust in various fields, to seek solidarity with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) on the basis of equal partnership, and to pursue mutual understanding with the Indochinese countries.
Last week, his son, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, gave a similar speech at a Tokyo symposium on Asia's future. Will this speech serve as principles to guide Japan's policy toward Asia for the next 30 years, as Mr. Fukuda no doubt hopes?
The speech, which might be called a new Fukuda doctrine, reflects efforts to give substance to his foreign-policy goal of making the push for Asia diplomacy resonate with the reinforcement of the Japan-U.S. alliance. This will help restore balance to Japan's diplomacy. This means a departure from former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's lopsided emphasis on ties with the United States, as well as from former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempt to encircle China through closer ties with the U.S., Australia and India while minimizing friction with it.