Japan pushes 'inclusive' approach to
Myanmar By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO - Through a series of recent events and
conferences, Tokyo appears to be cultivating what some
thinkers here call a more "inclusive" - and realistic -
approach to Myanmar, one far different from the West,
which has imposed sanctions on Yangon and where the
United States last year barred the entry of exports from
the country previously known as Burma.
Japan's
decision to host a visit from March 16-19 by the United
Nations special envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, is a
case in point. Analysts see the visit of Razali,
officially invited to attend a conference on reforming
the UN, as a sign of Tokyo's eagerness to play a role in
bringing a dialogue between Myanmar's military junta and
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"Razali's
presence in Tokyo sends an important message to the
world as he is the most important person in negotiating
for peace in Burma," said Min Nyo, who heads the
Japan-Burma Center that represents exiled dissidents in
Tokyo.
It is also a move that may well signal
Japan's desire to expand its traditional role as Asia's
key aid donor and become a more active player in
regional diplomacy, according to experts.
"There
is a growing expectancy on Japan from the Asian
countries that have long benefited economically from
Japanese aid, to do more," said Shigeu Tsumori, former
Japanese ambassador to Myanmar and a professor of
international relations at Toyo Eiwa University. "In
reciprocation, Tokyo, too, has now made regional harmony
a priority."
Tokyo used to be Myanmar's largest
donor. In 2002, it gave US$200 million in grant aid to
Myanmar, after resuming mostly grant aid in 1995. Japan
gave $3 billion for technical cooperation in 2003, but
after a series of violent attacks there in May, Japan
made the unusually strong decision, along with Western
donors, to stop sending aid. Although Japan has not yet
decided to restore full official aid, the country is
rethinking its decision, making it a priority for
Razali.
"Razali sees Japan having special
influence in Myanmar. Its long assistance to Burma till
May when aid was stopped, and a historical context to
bilateral relations, gives [Japan] a preference to play
a larger role than the West," Kei Nemoto, an expert on
Southeast Asia at Gaiko University, said in an
interview.
But Myanmar is also proving to be a
tightrope for Japan's diplomacy as it figures out how to
achieve a balance between satisfying Western demands for
democratic reform - echoed by activists in the region
and beyond - and Asia's room for compromise.
Tsumori says a confrontational approach will not
work, and that Japan must have a long-term, balanced
policy that pursues both development - including
education and health - and political progress.
"We must work on ways to combine the two
development processes and aim at fostering a dialogue
between the opposing political forces," Tsumori said at
a seminar on Myanmar on Monday, just after Razali's
visit had ended.
The seminar, organized by the
Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Asian Club Foundation and the
Myanmar Economic and Management Institute, centered on
proposals for "reconciliation" by thinkers from Eastern
nations who propose an approach to Myanmar different
from the big-stick one of the West and other critical
Asian countries.
These proposals, completed in
December by the Asia Dialogue Society, are called
"Quality of Partnership: Myanmar in Southeast Asia and
the World Community". The people behind this initiative
include Tsumori, M Rajeratnam of the Information and
Resource Center in Singapore, and former Thai deputy
foreign minister Sukhumhand Paribatra.
They
suggest setting up a Council of National Reconciliation
and Concord (CNRC) that would include members from the
junta, the opposition and ethnic groups working for
reconciliation within a predetermined timetable.
"The CNRC represents the basis of Japanese
policy on Myanmar because it is a mechanism that
represents compromise and inclusiveness," Nemoto pointed
out.
Other critics of Myanmar's military
government may find the proposal too tame - the CNRC
proposal would allow the junta to retain the dominant
position in the council - but Tsumori maintains that it
is an "important breakthrough in ushering in
reconciliation in Myanmar".
Experts here argue
that the document represents Japan's brand of quiet
diplomacy that gives Yangon's and the National League
for Democracy's aspirations equal importance. Said
Nemoto, "Japanese diplomacy lays priority on harmony.
The CNRC depicts this context very well."
Min
Nyo said that whatever the road to democracy is, a
solution must include all parties - and asks Tokyo to
avoid going too soft, too quickly, on Burma without
concrete change.
"I would like Japan to be more
forceful with the junta and not give aid if the military
leaders will not accept an inclusive engagement toward
democracy," he said in an interview.
Similarly,
Nyo added: "We are not against Razali's negotiations
with the junta because we know he and Japan are trying
to move things ahead. Our only fear is that nothing is
going to come out in the end."
Razali arrived in
Tokyo after visiting Yangon from March 1-4, where he met
with Myanmar's military government, opposition and
ethnic leaders.
While in Tokyo, Razali refrained
from making public statements on Myanmar, however, he
did meet with government officials - whose names were
not released by the Foreign Ministry - and Myanmar
activists at Rengo, the country's largest trade union.
He was also believed to have briefed Tokyo on
the progress of the deadlock in the Southeast Asian
country, where military rulers say they are pursuing a
seven-step "roadmap" to political change and where the
process of writing a new constitution is expected to be
revised this year.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on
when, and if, the junta does reconstitute the National
Convention, which had been drafting the new constitution
until the opposition walked out in 1996. Still unclear
is what role the government will allow for Suu Kyi, her
party and other members of the opposition.
"We
are not willing to believe in the negotiations by Razali
or Japan unless freedom is ensured - and that does not
look possible," said Min Nyo.
On May 30, 2003,
violent attacks were undertaken on Suu Kyi and her party
by thugs believed to be linked to the military
government. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi
has rapped Yangon for not releasing Suu Kyi from house
arrest where she has been detained since the attacks.
Meantime, Tsumori said a full resumption of aid
is not going to happen yet. "It is going to be difficult
to convince Japanese taxpayers to support official
development assistance to Myanmar unless there is
democracy and protection of human rights," explained
Tsumori.
