TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will enlist leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as partners in shaping a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific at a summit next week in Indonesia, using an approach designed to avoid direct criticism of China, Nikkei has learned.
The meeting is in preparation for a Tokyo summit in December that will commemorate 50 years of Japan-ASEAN ties, which is expected to result in a joint statement that will include a vision of new cooperation between the sides.
