Asean’s Myanmar peace push needs Japan’s ‘silent diplomacy’

AI Summary

Japan is expanding its mediation capacity, with a new Foreign Ministry unit and parliamentary association, as it considers how to support ASEAN’s peace efforts in Myanmar. The article points to Japan’s past role in helping broker talks among Cambodia’s warring factions as a model for quiet diplomacy.

Japan has long established itself as a pioneer of mediation in Southeast Asia. In 1990, for example, its officials helped broker talks between Cambodia’s warring factions, supplementing international efforts to end conflict in the country. Now, Tokyo is seeking to upgrade its diplomatic toolkit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ International Peace Mediation Unit was set up in March, followed by the launch of the Parliamentary Association for Peace Mediation in May. Around the same time, the...