Antoni Slodkowski and Ju-min Park

TOKYO (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.”

According to Reuters’ transcript and corporate filings, Hideo Watanabe (87 years old) is also looking to invest $42 million in shopping malls with a company linked to a sanctioned military conglomerate.

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’s Japan Myanmar Association, (JMA) chair, and Japan’s foreign ministry declined to comment.

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. Like other multinationals they are being pressured by activists to stop investing in Myanmar.

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. First reported in Japanese by Toyo Keizai business magazine, his comments were published in a newsletter that was circulated to associations sponsors. Reuters also saw them.

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 (NYSE:) Corp, 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.

Vessel Hotel Development Co, a hotel chain, and Global Innovation Consulting, an IT company told Reuters that they had quit the association following 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 is a clothing maker that said it resigned as it felt the price of the information was too high. SPARX Asset Management was also a part of the group. JCB International Co, a credit card company, said that it had also quit earlier this year.

Although they have distanced themselves from the Myanmar army, some companies remain in the JMA. After protests from human rights activists, Kirin Holdings ended its alliance with the conglomerate that was linked to Myanmar’s military in February.

Kirin declined to comment on Watanabe’s remarks. The drinks company said in response to a question from Reuters that the actions of Myanmar’s military “go against our standards and human rights policy.”

Automaker Suzuki Motor Corp and Japan’s largest trading house, Mitsubishi Corp, which have remained in the JMA, declined to comment on Watanabe’s remarks. Suzuki claimed it prioritizes safety for its employees, but Mitsubishi stated human rights are one factor it takes into consideration when it does business.

Masao Imamura, a professor of Southeast Asian history at Japan’s Yamagata University, said Watanabe was influential in framing Tokyo’s economic policy on Myanmar and Japanese corporations have relied on his influence and access to do business.

“Large Japanese corporations active in Myanmar have been embedded with people like Watanabe too long and too deeply, so they don’t know how to exit,” Imamura, who was part of a coalition that challenged the JMA’s policy on Myanmar earlier this year, told Reuters.

In May, a month before the JMA meeting, Yusuke Watanabe, Watanabe’s son and the association’s secretary general, wrote an article published in the Diplomat saying Japan should act as a bridge to Myanmar’s junta rather than following the Western policy of “regime change”.

Imamura wrote an open response to the JMA corporate sponsors.

Yusuke Watanabe’s article, they said, neglected to mention “human rights violations such as killing, violence, detention, and suppression of speech against civilians by the military.” They asked every member company whether they supported the JMA’s position, as expressed by the younger Watanabe. They said that his comments were meant to justify the coup.

‘FRIENDSHIP AND TRUST’

Hideo Watanabe, Japan’s most senior conduit to Myanmar regarding economic ties, has been acting since 1987. He has access to more senior officials through his connections than most foreigners. Watanabe played a key role in a 2011 agreement in which Japan provided nearly $5 billion of aid and forgiven its debts in return for the rights to build a port in Yangon.

In a written statement, Myanmar’s military government told Reuters Watanabe was “a long-time friend” who “always seeks better relations between the governments and citizens of the two nations”.

To underline his status in Myanmar, Watanabe was credited by the junta, together with former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson (chairman, Nippon Foundation) when it freed Danny Fenster, an American journalist.

Apart from its members in business, the JMA includes politicians of the Liberal Democratic Party including Taro Aso (ex-prime minister) and many former ambassadors to Myanmar. Aso’s office declined to comment on Watanabe’s remarks.

Myanmar’s military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. They claimed election fraud and sentenced her earlier this month to four-years in prison. According to independent observers, more than 1,300 protesters have been shot by troops.

Watanabe was not supportive of Myanmar but expressed doubts. Watanabe, who spoke at the June meeting to the association, said that “not all that the military are doing is OK.” He also stated that he had requested a roadmap towards democracy from the general in exchange for his investment. Watanabe stated that it was crucial to make conditions for holding elections by the 2023 deadline promised by the military.

Watanabe, at the same, spoke of his “friendship and trust” with the leader of the Junta, who is subject to sanctions from the United States. Watanabe said that Japan needs to support the system in place “to stop civil war in Myanmar.”

The junta said in response to questions posed by Reuters that Watanabe’s mall project was ongoing. Watanabe, who said he did not encourage investments that would directly benefit the military, told the JMA he would update on the project once “there are concrete developments.”