Prime Minister Abe’s Misguided Foreign Policy
He must not allow the pro-China lobby to undermine Japan’s China policy
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President of JFSS, Political Commentator Taro Yayama
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) decided “not to rule out” the possibility of inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping to Japan as a State Guest, Initially, the LDP had called for the outright cancellation of the invitation, in a joint session of the Foreign Affairs Division and the Research Commission on Foreign Affair of the party. However, in a joint session held on July 6, they took a huge step backward. They concluded that “we have no choice but to request cancellation”. They were reportedly forced to tone down their original position in the face of opposition from five Diet members belonging to the faction lead by Toshihiro Nikai, Secretary-General of LDP, who had “infiltrated” the second meeting to put forward their views. Mr. Nikai is a pro-China figure who believes that we owe the development of Japan-China ties to the strenuous efforts of our predecessors and that we must not allow such relations to be destroyed.
This view is fundamentally flawed. It is inconceivable that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is known for his diplomatic acumen, does not recognize this. In my view, what Mr. Abe is now seeking to do is to dismantle the present relations and rebuild an ideal relationship, without being reckless like President Trump. Let’s look at the history of Japan’s dealings with China. In 607, Prince Shotoku sent a special emissary, Ono no Imoko, on an official mission to China, which was then ruled by the Sui Dynasty (the mission is known in Japan as Kenzuishi). In so doing, he was able to demonstrate that the Japan-China relationship was one between equals. The Edo Shogunate kept its relationship with China on equal terms through its isolation policy. Although we were unable to uphold this basic tenet in the Age of Imperialism, we must now strive to regain this spirit.
Since ancient times, China has clung to Sinocentric ideas and has looked upon nations surrounding it as inferior people that needed to be subjugated. They were disparaged as the Beidi (北狄), the Nanman (南蛮), the Dongyi (東夷) and the Xirong (西戎) which meant “Barbarians of the North ( South, East, and West)”. Even today we can see this mentality peculiar to the Han Chinese embodied in the eradication of the Tibetan and Uyghur cultures.
Had all of us viewed China from such a perspective, neither the economic war between the United States and China nor the Wuhan coronavirus crisis would have occurred. After the United States won the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the Western Democracies exposed the weaknesses of democracy and liberalism in their dealings with the Communist Party of China. They believed that China would eventually evolve into a democracy if it was accorded treatment as a member of their club. One of the reasons why the world was led to believe that China was becoming a normal country was the visit of the Emperor Akihito of Japan to China in October of 1992. Although the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989 had given rise to widespread caution and distrust regarding China in the international community, China came to be viewed as a “normal country” after the visit of the Japanese Emperor three years later. China is now hoping for something that would have the same effect as a rerun of the Emperor’s visit.
After the Emperor’s visit, China was accepted as a member state of the WTO in 2001. What has China done as WTO member? It has stolen intellectual property rights from countries all over the world. It has gained access to research and development through the back door. It has provided generous government subsidies to Huawei allowing it to sell its products at prices a third lower than those of its competitors. China’s trade surplus with the US reached 35.6 trillion yen in 2018. Taking advantage of its huge trade surplus, China achieved double digit growth in military spending for around 20 years. Alarmed by these danger signals in the military and other areas, President Trump has been taking an extremely stringent stance towards China. His methods may be controversial, but we must not forget that he is the first US president to squarely address the Chinese threat.
Japan now has a chance to bring about dramatic changes to its diplomatic policies towards China. Japan cannot protect itself without help from the United States. Likewise, the US cannot defend its interests fully without support from Japan. Prime Minister Abe needs to rethink Japan’s China policy from the perspective of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. There is no need to heed Mr. Nikai’s mundane and outdated views.
※こちらは「安倍外交は見当違い」―媚中派二階氏の俗論で対中外交誤る勿れ―（2020/7/15）を翻訳したものです。
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) decided “not to rule out” the possibility of inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping to Japan as a State Guest, Initially, the LDP had called for the outright cancellation of the invitation, in a joint session of the Foreign Affairs Division and the Research Commission on Foreign Affair of the party. However, in a joint session held on July 6, they took a huge step backward. They concluded that “we have no choice but to request cancellation”. They were reportedly forced to tone down their original position in the face of opposition from five Diet members belonging to the faction lead by Toshihiro Nikai, Secretary-General of LDP, who had “infiltrated” the second meeting to put forward their views. Mr. Nikai is a pro-China figure who believes that we owe the development of Japan-China ties to the strenuous efforts of our predecessors and that we must not allow such relations to be destroyed.
This view is fundamentally flawed. It is inconceivable that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is known for his diplomatic acumen, does not recognize this. In my view, what Mr. Abe is now seeking to do is to dismantle the present relations and rebuild an ideal relationship, without being reckless like President Trump. Let’s look at the history of Japan’s dealings with China. In 607, Prince Shotoku sent a special emissary, Ono no Imoko, on an official mission to China, which was then ruled by the Sui Dynasty (the mission is known in Japan as Kenzuishi). In so doing, he was able to demonstrate that the Japan-China relationship was one between equals. The Edo Shogunate kept its relationship with China on equal terms through its isolation policy. Although we were unable to uphold this basic tenet in the Age of Imperialism, we must now strive to regain this spirit.
Since ancient times, China has clung to Sinocentric ideas and has looked upon nations surrounding it as inferior people that needed to be subjugated. They were disparaged as the Beidi (北狄), the Nanman (南蛮), the Dongyi (東夷) and the Xirong (西戎) which meant “Barbarians of the North ( South, East, and West)”. Even today we can see this mentality peculiar to the Han Chinese embodied in the eradication of the Tibetan and Uyghur cultures.
Had all of us viewed China from such a perspective, neither the economic war between the United States and China nor the Wuhan coronavirus crisis would have occurred. After the United States won the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the Western Democracies exposed the weaknesses of democracy and liberalism in their dealings with the Communist Party of China. They believed that China would eventually evolve into a democracy if it was accorded treatment as a member of their club. One of the reasons why the world was led to believe that China was becoming a normal country was the visit of the Emperor Akihito of Japan to China in October of 1992. Although the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989 had given rise to widespread caution and distrust regarding China in the international community, China came to be viewed as a “normal country” after the visit of the Japanese Emperor three years later. China is now hoping for something that would have the same effect as a rerun of the Emperor’s visit.
After the Emperor’s visit, China was accepted as a member state of the WTO in 2001. What has China done as WTO member? It has stolen intellectual property rights from countries all over the world. It has gained access to research and development through the back door. It has provided generous government subsidies to Huawei allowing it to sell its products at prices a third lower than those of its competitors. China’s trade surplus with the US reached 35.6 trillion yen in 2018. Taking advantage of its huge trade surplus, China achieved double digit growth in military spending for around 20 years. Alarmed by these danger signals in the military and other areas, President Trump has been taking an extremely stringent stance towards China. His methods may be controversial, but we must not forget that he is the first US president to squarely address the Chinese threat.
Japan now has a chance to bring about dramatic changes to its diplomatic policies towards China. Japan cannot protect itself without help from the United States. Likewise, the US cannot defend its interests fully without support from Japan. Prime Minister Abe needs to rethink Japan’s China policy from the perspective of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. There is no need to heed Mr. Nikai’s mundane and outdated views.