Japan is not contributing enough to the international community relative to its economic power, according to a Foreign Ministry public opinion survey carried out in Southeast Asia.
Released this week, the survey of six countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations found that 43 percent of respondents in Malaysia believe Japan is doing its part, compared with 60 percent in a 1997 poll. In the Philippines, the figure slipped from 54 percent to 51 percent; in Singapore, from 32 percent to 30 percent; and in Thailand, from 62 percent to 32 percent.
Indonesia was the exception, where 80 percent of respondents said Japan is pulling its weight, compared with 71 percent in the previous poll. Vietnam, surveyed for the first time, had a rate of 63 percent.