TOKYO, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Japan's opposition leader, writing in a magazine ahead of the Aug. 30 elections, says the era of "U.S.-led globalism" is coming to end.
Yukio Hatoyama, who would likely become prime minister if the Democratic Party of Japan wins the elections, discussed his views in an article in the Japanese magazine Voice, the Financial Times reported.
The DPJ, which has been critical of the United States in the past, is ahead in the polls against Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition.
"As a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of the U.S.-led globalism is coming to an end and … we are moving away from a unipolar world led by the U.S. towards an era of multi-polarity," the Times quoted him as writing in the Voice.
Hatoyama said fears about China's military rise are a big factor in "accelerating regional integration."
He called for Japan to work for a regional currency union because of rising worries about the U.S. dollar's future.
The Times quoted analysts as saying there are wide policy differences with the DPJ and it would be difficult to predict how Hatoyama's statements might translate into practice.
He wrote security arrangements with the United States would remain a "diplomatic cornerstone" but also urged Japan to strengthen ties with neighbors including China and South Korea.
