US, Japan, Australia talk on regional concerns

SYDNEY, Sep 8 (Reuters) Leaders of the United States, Japan and Australia agreed today to deal ''constructively'' with China, which has cast a wary eye on the trilateral summit, fearing it could turn into an alliance aimed at containing it.

U.S. President George W Bush, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister John Howard had been expected to publicly urge China to be more transparent about its military build-up.

But a senior Japanese government official said details of the talks would not be disclosed and stressed there were no plans at present to make the three-way talks a regular gathering.

''The leaders had a free discussion on issues of common interest and China was not a particular focus of the talks,'' the official told reporters.

''We cannot disclose details, but there was a common understanding on the importance of dealing constructively with China.'' Before the meeting of the three leaders on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific leaders summit in Sydney, China aired suspicions of encirclement if the talks were widened to include India, as Japan has suggested.

On a visit to India last month, Abe called for a ''broader Asia'' partnership of democracies that would include India, the United States and Australia, but omit China, Asia's second-biggest economy.

PARTNERSHIP OF DEMOCRACIES Ships from Australia, Japan and Singapore also took part in wargames led by the United States and India this week in the Bay of Bengal, seen by some analysts as a new alliance of democracies ranged against the growing military might of China.

The three countries have tightened ties in recent months, with Australia and Japan agreeing to a groundbreaking defence pact in March, while Australia clinched an agreement with the United States this week giving it access to top-secret military technology.

They have been keen to deflect concerns by China, a major trading partner, that they are trying to contain its growing clout, although Japan has proposed having regular talks grouping countries sharing common values.

Abe, keen to maintain Tokyo's close ties with Washington, said in a meeting with Bush that he would work to continue supporting US-led military operations in Afghanistan, despite a powerful Japanese opposition leader's refusal to back an extension of the mission.

The two ''agreed on the importance of the Japanese-American refueling operation in the Indian Ocean'', Abe told reporters.

A law allowing the mission expires on November 1, but opposition parties controlling parliament's upper house could delay legislation and suspend the mission -- a move policy experts see souring Japan's security ties with the United States.

Accompanied by their foreign ministers, the three leaders also agreed it was vital for North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons programmes, the Japanese official said.

Regional security fears have mounted since North Korea conducted a barrage of missile tests and its first nuclear test last year, prompting intense multinational negotiations aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons.

Australia is not part of the six-way talks -- grouping the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- but is one of the few Western nations to have diplomatic ties with Pyongyang and sent envoys to the reclusive state in March.

REUTERS SW HT1015