NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Saturday Asia needs to consider further steps to avoid a financial crisis as the euro zone’s debt problems could spill into the region.

While Asia has become more resilient due to its economic management since the region’s own financial crisis in 1997/98, it is not immune to Europe’s problems, Noda said.

“I don’t think Asia is necessarily vulnerable to external shocks (from Europe),” Noda told a news conference after the East Asia Summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

“Given efforts to conduct sound economic policy, the region generally enjoys a current account surplus and its foreign reserves are at high levels, so it has become more resilient to external shocks.”

“Having said that, there is no doubt that we could face adverse impact if we cannot build a firewall against the European crisis.”

Policymakers around the world are worried that Europe’s inability to unify around a debt strategy could hurt their economies.

Greece, Ireland and Portugal – all small, peripheral euro zone economies – have already been forced to accept EU/IMF bailouts as they can no longer afford to borrow commercially.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) – Japan told Myanmar on Friday that it wants to soon start working-level talks that could lead to the resumption of full-fledged development aid, following reforms in the long-isolated country.

However, Japan also urged Myanmar to release more political prisoners to continue a series of changes since the army nominally handed over power in March to civilians after the first elections in two decades.

Japan froze new official development assistance (ODA) to the country in 2003, while continuing humanitarian aid. In June, it lifted its ban on new ODA, but has fallen short of resuming full-fledged aid for infrastructure projects.

At a bilateral meeting with President Thein Sein in Indonesia, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda welcomed Myanmar’s recent reforms toward democracy, including Friday’s decision by the party of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to contest upcoming by-elections.

“At the same time, Prime Minister Noda expressed hope for the release of more political prisoners (in Myanmar),” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tsuyoshi Saito told reporters.

Japan has distanced itself from the policy of Western powers, which have imposed tough sanctions on Myanmar, and from that of China, which has pumped billions of dollars into the country. It prefers engagement and dialogue to push for democracy in the country.

President Thein Sein told Noda that Myanmar hoped for Japan’s ODA assistance for infrastructure projects, but Japan’s premier stopped short of promising specific aid at the summit, he added.

Nusa Dua (Reuters) – Japan on Friday pledged assistance to Southeast Asia’s infrastructure projects worth $25 billion and called for a multilateral forum to discuss maritime cooperation across Asia, in an implicit challenge to China’s clout in the region.

Japan, worried about its declining regional and global role, wants to deepen ties with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) as China, which surpassed Japan as the world’s No.2 economy, becomes a vital player in the region.

At a summit with leaders from the 10-member ASEAN, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda offered support for 33 flagship infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia, using government aid and credit as well as private-sector finances, a Japanese foreign ministry official told reporters.

“It will create some 2 trillion yen ($25 billion) worth of business opportunities,” the official said.

The move comes as China, which separately held a meeting with ASEAN leaders on Friday, offered $10 billion in loans to the regional grouping.

The Japan-ASEAN summit took place ahead of the East Asia Summit (EAS), which brings together ASEAN leaders and eight dialogue partners — Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, the United States and Russia, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Maritime security will be front and center when the EAS leaders meet on Saturday, with territorial disputes in the South China Sea — a crucial shipping lane believed to contain valuable oil and minerals — at the heart of tensions.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) – The foreign minister of Thailand encouraged the United States and Europe to relax sanctions on Myanmar to reflect the isolated country’s progress in reforms, offering support to its neighbor under pressure to improve human rights conditions.

The United States and Europe have applauded a recent freeing of political prisoners in Myanmar but say they want more reforms before considering lifting sanctions imposed in response to decades of human rights abuses in the former British colony, also known as Burma.

Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Towijakchaiku told Reuters in an interview that he was “quite confident” that the resource-rich country would stick to reform efforts and intended to bring the country “back to normal.”

“They should ease sanctions they have done in the past,” he said when asked if Thailand believed the United States and Europe should relax their sanctions.

In his first remarks about the authoritarian regime after the Southeast Asian nation released political prisoners, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday that Myanmar had opened a dialogue on reform but needed to do more to improve human rights.

On the Indonesian resort island of Bali, the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday endorsed Myanmar for the chairmanship of its regional grouping in 2014, gambling that the country can stick to reforms begun this year that could lead it out of half a century of isolation.

“They (Myanmar) want to enhance economic growth and they would like to see political stability in their country,” Surapong said.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s fractious ruling party resumed its bickering on Friday after Prime Minister Naoto Kan hinted he wanted to keep his job into the new year, angering rivals who had voted down a no-confidence motion in return for a promise he’d quit.

The squabbling will likely further hamper efforts by Kan, who took office a year ago as Japan’s fifth premier in as many years, to tackle steps needed to rein in massive public debt while engineering growth in the fast-aging country.

Kan survived the no-confidence motion on Thursday after a last-minute offer to resign persuaded party critics not to defect and drive him from office even as the country struggles with the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.

The maneuver appeared to buy Kan time to prepare an extra budget to pay for rebuilding from the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami that triggered the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima Daichi plant.

But bickering quickly resurfaced after Kan’s comments at a late-night news conference suggested he wanted to stay on until damaged reactors at the crippled nuclear atomic plant achieved a stable “cold shutdown,” a process expected to take at least until January and probably longer.

“If he cannot keep his promise, he is a fraud,” Kyodo news agency quoted former minister Yukio Hatoyama, who brokered Thursday’s last-minute pact with Kan, as telling reporters.

“If he doesn’t keep his word, I will take decisive action.”

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday survived a no-confidence vote by offering to resign once he has overcome the worst of the country’s nuclear crisis, a last-minute deal with ruling party rebels who had threatened to turf him from office.

Kan’s offer to step down, probably in the autumn, buys him time to prepare an extra budget to fund the rebuilding cost of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but it does nothing to resolve the country’s political and policy paralysis.

Thanks to Kan’s manoeuvring, the parliamentary no-confidence motion — brought by the opposition over his handling of the country’s deepest crisis since World War Two — was comfortably defeated by 293 to 152 votes.

However, weakened by rifts within his own party, Kan may be seen as a lame duck by an emboldened opposition and will likely struggle to make much progress on tax and social security reforms needed to contain the nation’s bulging debt.

“There is no change in the sense that political uncertainty still exists,” said Seiji Adachi, senior economist at Deutsche Securities in Tokyo.

“But at least the worst case scenario has been avoided. If the no-confidence motion had passed it would have created a political vacuum capable of significantly delaying post-disaster reconstruction.

Speaking shortly before the vote, Kan told ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) lawmakers he would step down later.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan — in danger of losing a no-confidence vote in parliament on Thursday — will offer to resign later this year after dealing with a nuclear crisis and other urgent matters related to the massive March earthquake and tsunami, domestic media reported.

Even if Kan — Japan’s fifth premier in as many years — survives, a growing split within the ruling party would further handicap efforts to push policies through parliament, including politically sensitive tax reforms.

The head of the tiny ruling coalition partner, the People’s New Party, urged the unpopular premier to resign once he has extended the current parliament session and taken care of pressing disaster-related issues, and Kyodo news agency said Kan would offer to step down in the autumn or later in a meeting with party lawmakers.

But some rebels in the ruling party want Kan out sooner.

Kan, who took office almost exactly a year ago, is battling to control a radiation crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima nuclear plant, figure out how to pay for rebuilding the northeast region devastated by the tsunami, and craft tax reforms to pay for rising social security costs.

The opposition needs the backing of around 80 of the 305 lower house members from Kan’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to pass the motion in the 480-seat chamber. Passage of the motion would force Kan to resign or call a snap election.

The DPJ rebels, who dislike his abrasive style and fear he is becoming an electoral liability, want Kan to resign even before the vote to pave the way for a coalition with the opposition to break a parliamentary logjam.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s survival hung in the balance ahead of a no-confidence vote on Thursday, threatening political chaos as the government grapples with a nuclear crisis and huge public debt.

Even if Kan — Japan’s fifth premier in as many years — survives, a growing split within the ruling party will further handicap efforts to push policies through parliament, including politically sensitive tax reforms.

Adding to the pressure on Kan, the head of the tiny ruling coalition partner, the People’s New Party, urged the unpopular premier to resign once he has extended the current parliament session and taken care of issues related to Japan’s earthquake-triggered crises, Kyodo news reported.

But some rebels in the ruling party want Kan out sooner.

Kan, who took office almost exactly a year ago, is battling to control a radiation crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima nuclear plant, figure out how to pay for rebuilding the northeast region devastated by the tsunami, and craft tax reforms to pay for rising social security costs.

The opposition needs the backing of around 80 of the 305 lower house members from Kan’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to pass the motion in the 480-seat chamber. Passage of the motion would force Kan to resign or call a snap election.

The DPJ rebels, who dislike his abrasive style and fear he is becoming an electoral liability, want Kan to resign even before the vote to pave the way for a coalition with the opposition to break a parliamentary logjam.

TOKYO (Reuters) – A former Japanese prime minister joined the swelling ranks of ruling party rebels trying to oust leader Naoto Kan, raising the risk that a no-confidence vote will pass in parliament on Thursday, forcing him to quit.

Japan’s fifth premier in as many years, Kan has come under fire for his handling of the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake, the world’s worst in quarter of a century.

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) rebels lining up against Kan also resent what they see as his high-handed style and fear his unpopularity and a policy shift toward fiscal reform could scuttle their chances if the opposition forces an election.

The opposition will need the votes of more than 70 DPJ lawmakers to win the no-confidence motion in the lower house of parliament on Thursday, a target many analysts said it was unlikely to achieve.

However, independent analyst Minoru Morita said the tide was running against the premier.

“The number of DPJ rebels is growing,” he said.

NHK television said Kan’s predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, intended to vote for the motion. Hatoyama was joined by scandal-tainted party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, the prime minister’s main rival in the DPJ.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese ruling party rebels on Wednesday claimed to have enough votes to back a no-confidence vote against embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan but analysts said he would probably survive, albeit weakened and with a deeply divided party.

Japan’s fifth premier in as many years, Kan has struggled to deal with the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years and to push through policies to resolve deep-seated economic woes, with one ratings agency saying the intense political feuding could help force a downgrade in the country’s sovereign debt.

The opposition is expected to vote on the no-confidence motion in parliament’s lower house on Thursday and would need the backing of around 70 lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to succeed, something many analysts said looked too much of a stretch.

But independent analyst Minoru Morita said the tide was running against the premier.

“The number of DPJ rebels is growing,” he said.

Even if Kan does scrape through, analysts said it would still be an uphill struggle to win support for major policies, including funding steps for an extra budget to pay for the massive rebuilding costs after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

NHK public TV said scandal-tainted powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, the prime minister’s main rival in the DPJ, intended to vote for the motion. And an Ozawa ally told Reuters the rebels could have enough votes to adopt it, which would force Kan to resign or call a snap lower house election.