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UN or US? Japan walks a tightrope
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO
- Japan continues to walk a slippery political
tightrope, this time balancing its traditional support
for the United Nations and multilateralism and the
strategic value it puts on having Washington's backing
during these tense times in the Korean Peninsula.
Tokyo found itself in a tight spot just before
the US-led invasion of Iraq, caught between its longtime
security ties with the United States and pacifist calls
at home. Now, in the wake of the collapse of the Saddam
Hussein's regime, it finds itself trying to find middle
ground between sticking by the United Nations and openly
supporting US plans for running post-Saddam Iraq - plans
that have been criticized for its insensitivity to
Middle Eastern realities.
This is all happening
against the backdrop of a Japan worried by neighboring
North Korea's bellicose statements about US "threats"
against it and warnings that it will fight back if
Washington treats it like another Iraq, despite the
latest reports that Pyongyang may now be open to
multilateral talks on its nuclear program.
"The
dilemma in a nutshell," said political analyst Kichiya
Kobayashi, "is trying to keep Washington happy to defend
Japan from North Korea, and at the same time supporting
the United Nations so as to prevent such an attack."
In visits to Paris, London and Beijing, Foreign
Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi has been talking about the
need for the international community to be part of
rebuilding Iraq, for the UN Security Council to pass a
resolution that cements such cooperation, and for the
United States and Europe to mend fences over Iraq.
"In the post-Saddam era, Japan must work hard to
act as a mediator," Shinzo Abe, deputy chief cabinet
secretary, said in a published commentary. "Japan can
urge the United States and Britain to abide by the
United Nations."
Yukio Okamoto, diplomatic
advisor to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, said after
returning from the Middle East on Monday that Tokyo also
has to help Egypt, Jordan and other countries in the
region. "Japan has to think about the entire Arab
world," he told NHK Television. "The Arab world is
unhappy with the war, and the initial euphoria about
ousting Saddam could change if there is no progress on
the economic and political front in Iraq."
Officially, the Japanese line has been that the
United Nations - the institution in which Tokyo has been
long been calling for reform, and asking it to make
space for countries such as Japan - must have a major
role in the reconstruction and interim administration of
Iraq.
But others read the political scene
differently. They say that US military success in Iraq
shows that it is worth it for Japan to have Washington
staunchly on its side - especially given its worries
over North Korea's nuclear program and the United
States' anger over it. Therefore, they argue, Tokyo
should stand by Washington in the wake of criticism
about its plans to designate a retired general, Jay
Garner, to head the interim administration and report to
the chief of the US Central Command, General Tommy
Franks.
Typical of this argument is an editorial
last week by the largest Japanese daily, Yomiuri: "The
fall of the Saddam regime has shown that the United
States has a profoundly important role to play in
defending world peace. It has also been proved that
Japan's alliance with the United States is extremely
important to this nation's security."
In
contrast stands the Chugoku Shimbun published in the
Hiroshima prefecture, which on April 6 stated: "The UN
collective security system has helped prevent
large-scale conflicts in the world. In light of this,
the American use of force against Iraq constitutes a
violation of the UN Charter."
Keiko Otsuru, who
teaches international relations at Kansai University,
said: "The [George W] Bush administration's war on Iraq
has ignored UN-centered collective responsibility. Japan
can only lose by siding with such policy."
Otsuru said that standing firm against the
US-led war would have better served Japan's policy of
engagement with North Korea, instead of using the US
security umbrella that only makes Pyongyang even more
insecure - and hostile toward Japan.
There are
members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which
steers Japan's ruling coalition, who share such a view.
Yuriko Koike, who visits the Middle East regularly, did
not mince words: "The American plan to democratize the
Middle East is extremely naive - it will only
destabilize the region."
But the foreground of
Japan-US ties is their 1952 security pact, which after
Japan's defeat in World War II allowed US military bases
to stay in return for the defense of Japanese territory.
This has been the linchpin of a relationship that has
seen Japan's foreign policy stand steadfast behind the
United States for 50 years.
The issue of North
Korea certainly makes Japan's position on the US and UN
role in a postwar Iraq an even more complicated one.
Japan needs US protection in case North Korea lashes out
its neighbors. But it also wants to be on the good side
of the United Nations because it wants a political
dialogue on North Korea there - Tokyo had been pushing
for this, along with China and South Korea.
Thus,
while Tokyo has been trying to keep US support, it has
also been working on nurturing contacts with its
neighbors China and South Korea for a multilateral
solution and dialogue to the North Korea issue.
Last week, Kawaguchi went on a three-day visit
to Beijing to boost ties and solidify a UN role for
containing any possible conflict around the issue of
North Korea. She was partially successful. Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao, who had earlier turned down a visit
to Japan soon, told Kawaguchi that China's leadership is
ready to improve ties and strengthen ties with Japan.
Experts contend that Kawaguchi's trip
demonstrates a growing urgency in East Asia to put
forward a united front for a diplomatic settlement on
North Korea. Koizumi has said, "Japan will make its
utmost effort to solve the [North Korea] crisis through
political means."
Already, in recent years - and
not least because of North Korea's missile testing -
many Japanese have been fretting about a possible
conflict in the Korean Peninsula. Some of these worries
can be seen in proposals in the Diet (parliament) for
measures by which Japan can address a possible conflict.
This month, the LDP-led coalition plans to pass
through the lower house of parliament - emergency bills
for the deployment of Japan's Self-Defense Forces in the
event of a national emergency.
(Inter Press
Service)
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