TOKYO: Japan pledged $20 billion in aid and loans to Southeast Asia on Saturday, the latest step in its bid to woo global public opinion in a territorial dispute with China.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered the cash over five years for members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a celebratory summit to mark 40 years of ties with the bloc.

The announcement crowns a year of courting by Abe, who has visited all 10 countries in the grouping at least once since he came to power last year, always with one eye on wresting back influence in the region from China.

“Together with Asean, I want to build the future of Asia where laws, rather than power, rule, and people who worked hard will be rewarded – which would lead to a prosperous society with mutual respect.”

That apparently was an oblique reference to his country’s fractious spat over the sovereignty of a small chain of islands in the East China Sea, where Japan is keen to garner support for its view that Beijing’s behaviour is aggressive and coercive.

The case has taken on a greater urgency since China’s declaration last month of an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea – including the contested archipelago.

Beijing said all aircraft entering the zone have to submit flight plans and obey orders issued by Chinese authorities, in an announcement that was widely criticised as inflammatory.

That came after more than 12 months of confrontations between Japanese and Chinese coastguards in the seas near the islands, as well as forays by military and paramilitary planes, and shows of strength by naval vessels.

Some fear the ADIZ in the East China Sea is a forerunner to a similar zone in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely. Abe said that the 2 trillion yen ($20 billion) in loans and grants is part of a bigger relationship.

“In this summit, I would like to discuss relations between Japan and Asean in the context of not only our bilateral relations, but also in the context of the international community.—AFP