Japan business lobbyist backs Myanmar coup and urges investment

FILE PHOTO: Hideo Watanabe, the chairman of the Japan-Myanmar Association, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo August 15, 2012. - Reuters

TOKYO, Dec 19 (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."

The 87-year-old former cabinet minister, Hideo Watanabe, is also pursuing a US$42-million shopping mall investment in a tie-up with a firm linked to a sanctioned army conglomerate, according to a transcript of his remarks seen by Reuters and corporate filings.