Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Taro Aso, Japanese Deputy Prime Minister, has met the Sri Lankan president, Mahinada Rajapaksa in Colombo. The aim of the visit: to renew cooperation between the two countries. Until 2009, Japan was Sri Lanka's biggest donor. Since that year, Japan was overtaken by China. With this diplomatic visit Tokyo has begun to define its new foreign policy in Asia, beginning in Colombo
"Sri Lanka is a country of paramount maritime importance - Taro Aso said after the meeting - and Japan has offered some training programs for the Coast Guard." After the meeting, the Vice Premier visited the port that is under construction in Colombo, the project has received a loan of 800 million dollars from the Japanese government.
Meanwhile, Shinzo Abe is making a trip to mend diplomatic relations with Moscow and establish important energy alliances with Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The Prime Minister of Japan hopes to sign an agreement for the joint production of atomic energy in Turkish territory with the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan; instead Riyadh is Tokyo's largest supplier of crude oil.
When Shinzo Abe came to government in 2006, Taro Aso, then Foreign Minister, spoke of a "region of freedom and prosperity" in Asia under Japanese influence. Six years later, Tokyo is increasingly intimidated by Beijing's growing military presence in in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. The policy promoted by Abe hopes to stem the expansionism of the People's Republic, by providing financial support to the countries of Southeast Asia and promoting the democratization of their governments. The visit of the last few days falls within this strategy.
