U.S., Allies Studying Wider Role for Japan in Asia Defense, Quayle Says

The United States has been exploring with other Asian nations the possibility of having Japan assume a greater role for defense in the Pacific, Vice President Dan Quayle said Tuesday.

In an interview with The Times, Quayle indicated that over the last week, he has been discussing with Asian leaders the question of what sorts of additional defense responsibilities Japan should assume.

“One of the things that’s very interesting to the people I’ve talked to thus far is what is its (Japan’s) role going to be in national security. They (Asian leaders) are not asking, nor do I think it would be prudent, for a re-emergence of an offensive capability for Japan from a military point of view,” he said.

‘A Lot They Can Do’

“But there are a lot of things that they (Japan) can do from a defensive point of view: thousand-mile communications from the shore (of Japan); ASW (anti-submarine warfare); radar, surveillance and things of this sort would be very helpful.

“Japan is a vital link to stability in the Pacific,” Quayle said. “. . . With its emergence as a world economic power--and it’s going to stay there--there are certain responsibilities.”

Quayle’s remarks suggested that the United States is now seeking to persuade Japan to do more for defense in the Pacific and to win acceptance from other Asian nations for a greater Japanese defense role. The comments were unusual because they were made in Southeast Asia, where sensitivities about Japan’s military power are particularly high.

The interview was conducted shortly after the vice president landed in Singapore, the third stop on his 12-day trip through Asia. Quayle previously visited Australia and Indonesia.

During the interview, Quayle also hinted that the United States could grant diplomatic recognition to Vietnam after it withdraws its remaining troops from Cambodia as it is scheduled to do in September.

“The two main obstacles,” he said, referring to restoring relations with Vietnam, “are the Vietnamese in Cambodia and the MIA issue”--the Americans listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War.

“There’s progress being made on both (issues). When the Vietnamese withdraw from Cambodia, and assuming that we continue to make progress (on MIAs), which I assume that we will, then clearly the policy and the status quo will have to be reviewed,” he said.

”. . . Once those obstacles are removed, then the President will be in a position to review whether we should move toward diplomatic recognition.”

In speeches and other public appearances during his Asia trip, the vice president has emphasized repeatedly the theme that the United States intends to play the role of what he calls a “great power” in the Pacific. However, during the interview Tuesday, he acknowledged that in some Asian countries, Japan’s economic influence now far outweighs that of the United States.

” . . . It’s staggering,” he said, “the amount of investment that Japan is making on just economic security assistance to Indonesia.”

Quayle also indicated that he does not believe Japan has done enough about its trade frictions with the United States.

“They are going to have to open their markets,” he said. “It’s interesting that Japan’s market is far more closed than Indonesia, far more closed than Australia, far more closed than Singapore.”

Quayle would not say whether he believes Japan should be included on the list of offending countries whose trade practices will be targeted for special scrutiny under the 1988 Omnibus Trade Act. The Bush Administration is required to decide at the end of this month which countries should be included on the list.

Asked whether Japan might be kept off the list because of its extraordinary importance for U.S. foreign policy, the vice president replied:

“The issue is not foreign policy and national security. The issue is trade. . . . The primary consideration will be on whether these countries have engaged in illegal trading practices and activities, notwithstanding their good or bad standing from a national security point of view.”

In Singapore on Tuesday, Quayle told First Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong that the United States is concerned about the Singapore government’s continuing restrictions on the circulation here of foreign publications, including the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review.

But the vice president apparently made no headway at all on the press issue.

“Mr. Goh made clear that the (Singapore) government had no intention of altering its policy on foreign newspapers,” a spokesman for Goh said late Tuesday.

He said the United States has no right at all to complain about the press restrictions, “especially since the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review are not even U.S. publications, but merely Hong Kong publications which happen to be owned by American companies.”

Quayle also met with Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Today, Quayle is to fly to Thailand.