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Japan's new PM pledges better ties with Asia

Agence France-Presse

TOKYO - Japan's new Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday he will work to keep improving relations with Asian neighbors while maintaining the close alliance with the United States.

Fukuda, who was installed by parliament Tuesday, has developed a reputation throughout his career as a dove on ties with Asia which are often fraught with tension over wartime memories.

"I will push for an active Asian diplomacy with the aim of even greater achievements, as the stronger Japan-US alliance and the progress in Asian relations resonate together," Fukuda said in a statement approved at his first cabinet meeting.

Fukuda succeeded conservative premier Shinzo Abe, who helped mend ties with China and South Korea but was also a passionate champion of building a more assertive Japan prouder of its past.

Fukuda reiterated he would carry on Abe's push to renew a naval mission supporting US-led forces in Afghanistan, which the opposition has vowed to end after winning July elections for the upper house of parliament.

Fukuda said the basis of Japan's diplomacy was "a stable US-Japan alliance and international cooperation."

"I would like Japan to be a nation trusted by the international community as being aware of the responsibilities befitting its national power," Fukuda said in the statement.

Japan, the world's second largest economy, has been officially pacifist since defeat in World War II and relies on US military protection.

Fukuda has earlier hinted he will shelve Abe's push to rewrite the US-imposed pacifist constitution.

Fukuda was a top aide of Junichiro Koizumi, Abe's predecessor. But the new premier has openly criticized Koizumi for his annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine honoring war dead.

Beijing and Seoul see the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Abe was a strong supporter of the shrine but stayed away in a bid to improve ties with neighboring countries.

Fukuda is the son of late premier Takeo Fukuda, who signed a landmark peace-and-friendship treaty with China in 1978.

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