C

span class="caption" style="width: 398px;">Courtesy of Kyodo NewsAmbassador Nobuo Matsunaga, former chair of the Japan Institute of International Affairs, passed away on Dec. 1, 2011, at the age of 88.

He was a good friend and colleague of mine both in the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP), two important regional institutions for the Asia Pacific, one for economic cooperation and the other for political security cooperation. Both are Track Two regional institutions and Japan was instrumental in their establishment.

The PECC commenced with the Japan committee that was established by Prime Minister Ohira and Foreign Minister Saburo Okita. When ASEAN took the initiative to set up the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Japan strongly supported it, and Japan’s role was critical in making the US accept ARF as complimentary to US alliances with Japan and other countries in Asia and the Pacific. Japan also strongly supported the establishment of CSCAP.

It was Ambassador Matsunaga’s role to get Japan involved and active in those Track Two organizations. He was for some time the Japanese chair of both committees and got them moving. I, for one, had the honor and pleasure to be his co-chair at CSCAP as well as a fellow member of the Standing Committee of PECC. He was trusted by all members of both organizations, including the Chinese.

In the mid 1990s, Ambassador Matsunaga attended one PECC meeting organized by the China Committee at Dalian, an area located in northern China. Out of personal interest, he asked the host to allow him to visit the Chinese naval base in the former Port Arthur, next to Dalian. He easily got permission and was received with a lot of courtesy by the local government.

He was a wise man and always very considerate of others. He was very courteous and had an excellent demeanor. In his official service, he had an illustrious career as a diplomat and served as ambassador of Japan to the US and Mexico. He was popular and influential in Washington, DC, and was a trusted friend of many US leaders.

As chairman of the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), he paid serious attention to Japan-ASEAN relations, and helped establish an ASEAN-Japan exchange of think tanks which served as the basis for the establishment of CSCAP in 1993. That was the period when his eyesight began to deteriorate with his advancing age, limiting his activities. He eventually had to resign from the JIIA chairmanship.

Ambassador Matsunaga was a true gentleman and a trusted Japanese leader, and was well accepted in East Asia and many parts of the world. He is fondly missed, and we all are indebted to him for his service and leadership in the PECC and CSCAP. He was also fortunate to have a very able executive at JIIA like Yoshiji Nogami.

I had the privilege to host the Ambassador and Mrs. Matsunaga at my home in Bali for a few days, and that was indeed a memorable sojourn.

This article is dedicated to Mrs. Matsunaga and her family, in memory of Ambassador Matsunaga, whose departure is a great loss to Japan and so many more of us in Asia.

The writer is vice chair of the board of trustees at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Foundation, Jakarta