Continuing the momentum to reinforce the country’s bilateral relations in Asia, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin in early March undertook a high-profile visit to Japan with a key objective to turn an apparent of discord over policy toward Iraq into a collaboration.

On March de Villepin and Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi signed a bilateral cooperation agreement regarding assistance to Iraq. The bilateral accord announcement took place a day before the Japanese Foreign Minister also declared that the country was placing $450 million in an international trust fund for the reconstruction of Iraq.

The visit to Japan came following other briefer visits by de Villepin to India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many of his contacts and public statement had specific bilateral themes in the spotlight, but throughout the journeys a repeated underlying message was one of that could be interpreted as trying to build a new Euro-Asian coalition devoted to enhancing international rather than unilateral approaches to global or even regional issues, ranging from reform of the UN to Iraq. In both Japan and India he said France backed the desire of each to have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

As if to underline the effort at developing ties with Asia, de Villepin’s visit coincided with a voyage to Southeast Asia by the Minister for Cooperation and Francophone Affairs Pierre- Andre Wiltzer, who visited Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Among the numerous issues touched on by Wiltzer, he stressed the French involvement with the development of the Mekong region.

The visit to the country where de Villepin was formerly his country’s envoy, took him to both Tokyo and Fukuoka and included both meetings with his Japanese counterpart and a conference at Fukuoka University and contacts with the Japanese press. But in India, he also underlined that he had been posted in that country as a diplomat as well.

In addition to his highly-visible involvement in the Iraq issue with his Japanese hosts, he also furthered work on a bilateral action plan between the two countries to officially be signed and set in motion later this year. At Fukuoka, he noted that that city was twinned with Bordeaux and there were a number of cultural and scientific projects underway between the cities and countries, including a Franco-Japanese Institute in the Kyushu city, with some 3000 students enrolled.

In his speeches and declarations to the press he highlighted the various linkages between the two countries and cultures, and noted the parallel security interests in the campaigns against proliferation and terrorism. He especially alluded to the instances when the two countries were “side by side” in the peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts in East Timor, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Bosnia.

The visit was also notable because of its proximity to the bilateral summit between France and China in January on the occasion of Chinese New Year in Paris (See related article). Relations Japan have been a constant priority for both de Villepin and French President Jacques Chirac, who has visited the country some 40 times and is considered a Japanophile.

In his public pronouncements and apparently in contact with the Japanese Foreign Minister, de Villepin dwelt at length on various aspects of policy toward Iraq and its significance to Franco-Japanese cooperation. While he acknowledged that the two countries had not agreed on previous policy regarding military operations against Iraq, de Villepin sought to underline the belief that the two countries now shared interests in the reconstruction of Iraq, the establishment of stability and democracy there and on the importance of the UN and the international community to be involved there on a multilateral basis.

He also praised Japan’s controversial decision to dispatch non-combat troops to Iraq and said it demonstrated Japan’s increasing involvement in the global issues and leadership.He linked this with Tokyo’s acknowledged interest in securing a permanent seat on the UN Security Council as part of a general reform of the UN, which described as a major stepping stone in assuring the effectiveness of multilateral approaches and institutions.

He also repeated the proposals for the creation of a world environment agency under the UN and a new UN Economic Security Council. And he noted the work of the two and other partners in Europe and Asia in process such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summits. In this context he stressed that both were advocates of “soft” approaches to security problems, through such mechanisms as development aid and the Organisation of Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE).

He also said that France was present in the reconstruction of Iraq, was cooperating with Japan and others, including Iraqi National Council members who had visited Paris and met with President Chirac, and wished to do more, noting that its firms were active despite the exclusion from US contracts