Japan business lobbyist backs Myanmar coup, urges investment

TOKYO, Dec 17 (Reuters) – A Japanese former politician who campaigned to bring billions of dollars of investment from some of Japan’s top companies to Myanmar has urged Japan to endorse its military regime, saying the nation’s coup leader has “grown fantastically as a human being,” while praising his “democratisation efforts.”

The 87-year-old former cabinet minister, Hideo Watanabe, is also pursuing a $42-million shopping mall investment in a tie-up with a firm linked to a sanctioned army conglomerate, according to a transcript of his remarks seen by Reuters and corporate filings.

Watanabe’s outspoken push for Japan’s re-engagement with the Myanmar military government stands in contrast with Tokyo’s official stance, which has cut new aid and called on the military to stop the violence. Japan has sought to balance its support for Myanmar democracy against its efforts to counter China’s influence there, officials and analysts have said.

Watanabe and the Japan Myanmar Association (JMA) he chairs declined to comment, as did Japan’s foreign ministry.

His position also poses a dilemma for some of Japan’s largest companies who sponsor the JMA – a kind of lobby group and information exchange for Myanmar investment in Japan that he founded, business leaders and activists say. These JMA members, like other multinationals, are under pressure from activists to step away from their investments in Myanmar, including in the special economic zone that Watanabe helped establish.

Watanabe, who also said the military’s seizure of power in Myanmar was “lawful”, made his remarks at the JMA’s regular meeting on June 30, when discussing his recent trips to the country, during which he met junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. His comments, first reported by business publication Toyo Keizai in Japanese, were printed in a newsletter circulated to association sponsors and seen by Reuters.

At least six companies have quit the JMA this year and one member company has pushed back on Watanabe’s comments, according to the companies involved.

That company, XYMAX Corp, a property management firm, said it had expressed concerns to the JMA about the association’s position on the coup several times this year. “We don’t support the coup at all, and we can’t support comments that seem to endorse the coup. There’s no change in our position there,” Ryuhei Mori, an executive for international business at XYMAX, told Reuters.

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), which in 2019 announced plans to make Hilux pick-up trucks in the special economic zone, quit Watanabe’s group earlier this year. A spokesperson declined to discuss Toyota’s departure, including its timing. The company’s production plans for Myanmar have been put on hold since the coup, Toyota said.

Hotel chain Vessel Hotel Development Co and IT firm Global Innovation Consulting told Reuters they quit the association after the coup. Vessel said the company “wanted to cut costs,” and Global Innovation Consulting said the membership did not yield “continuing benefits” for the company.

Musashi Fusoh, a garment maker, told Reuters it resigned…