ABSTRACT
Prime Minister Fukuda Takeo enunciated the Doctrine on August 17, 1977 in Manila, the last stop of his journey through Southeast Asia. The essence of the Doctrine is contained in the three principles at the end of that speech (see Chapter 1 and Appendix 1). I was invited to take part in the symposium held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Fukuda Doctrine at the Shangri La in Singapore on November 2–3, 2007. There were people who remembered that I had played some part in drafting Fukuda’s speech, as Assistant Director General, Bureau of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The symposium was co-sponsored by the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) and the East Asian Institute (EAI) of Singapore. A scholar at the conference remarked that the Fukuda Doctrine has indeed stood the test of time. I concur with this view and believe that the Doctrine has remained relevant after more than three decades because of its enduring vision of a Japan playing a positive, peaceful and cooperative role in Southeast Asia.
