Japan to polish its tarnished Middle East
image By J Sean Curtin
As
part of a determined effort to reform its tarnished
image in the Arab world, the Japanese government has
announced a bold set of Middle East initiatives on Iraq
and the Israel-Palestine conflict. The latest move is
part of an ongoing strategy designed to distinguish
Japanese Middle East policy clearly from that of the
United States, a move likely to irritate Washington.
Tokyo has officially stated that at the June
summit of the Group of Eight (G8) countries in Sea
Islands, Georgia, it will urge a resumption of dialogue
between Israel and the Palestinian Authority as well as
a return to the internationally backed "roadmap" peace
plan, which envisages the creation of a Palestinian
state by 2005. Japan also will try to give Iraq's
reconstruction efforts a major boost by using its clout
to improve international cooperation. Tokyo is hoping
that these actions, combined with its robust
condemnation of Israel's recent assassinations of two
Hamas leaders, Sheik Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz
Rantissi, will help it restore its once-glittering image
in the Middle East.
For decades Japan has
invested heavily in crafting a positive image for itself
in the Middle East, an area that is crucial to the
supply of its energy needs. However, since actively
supporting US President George W Bush's war in Iraq,
Japan's reputation in the Arab world has suffered. Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi's staunch support for the war
was also unpopular domestically, as well as deeply
divisive. In an attempt to counteract some of the
negative impact of his Iraq policy, Koizumi has decided
to demonstrate that his country's Middle East policy is
radically different from Washington's approach.
Troop dispatch damages Japan's
image Since dispatching about 550 ground troops
to Iraq on a humanitarian mission, Japan has been
subject to a barrage of criticism in the Arab media.
Despite Japan's small commitment of armed forces, some
radical elements in Iraq have attempted to lump the
country in the same league as the United States and the
United Kingdom. This development has alarmed many
Japanese, especially after hearing the testimony of
released South Korean hostages, who described how their
Iraqi captors repeatedly chanted, "Kill the Americans,
British and Japanese!"
John de Boer, a
Japan-studies fellow at the Stanford Institute for
International Studies, said, "If there is any region
towards which Japan has consistently taken an
independent policy stand from the United States, it is
in the Middle East. Japan's willingness to join the
US-led occupation in Iraq has been a departure from this
long-standing tradition and could end up eroding the
political capital and goodwill that Japanese have spent
decades trying to cultivate in the Middle East."
Dr Mamdouh Salameh, whose highly influential
report, "Oil and Gas Development in Iran and Its
Implications for Japan", was adopted as the basis for
Japan's oil policy in Iran, concurs with de Boer's
assessment. He told Asia Times Online, "The people of
the Middle East are very disappointed by Japan's
decision to send troops to Iraq, even in a humanitarian
capacity. The reason is that these people are
overwhelmingly against the US invasion of Iraq. They
view Japan's decision as abetting the US occupation of
an Arab country against the wishes of the Iraqi people.
This has, to some extent, tarnished Japan's good image
in the Middle East." However, Salameh added, "Japan is
still highly respected in the Middle East as an economic
superpower."
Dr Buthaina Shaaban, a Syrian
cabinet minister and Foreign Ministry spokesperson, has
a less negative assessment about the effects of Japan's
troop deployment. She echoes a view often heard in the
Arab world that Washington basically forced Japan to
dispatch troops to Iraq. She told Asia Times Online, "I
think the people of the Middle East are very politically
savvy, and they understand that probably Japan has been
subjected to pressure. So people will forgive Japan for
that. People understand the nuances in the balance of
power. So I hope this will not damage or change our
relations with Japan."
Mixed reaction to
Japanese troops But not everyone's opinion is as
accommodating as Shaaban's. Even though Japan has gone
to great lengths to explain to the Arab world that its
mission in Iraq is purely humanitarian and not at all
military, the message has failed to register with some
people, who have adopted a decidedly aggressive stance
toward Tokyo.
Mohammad, who did not wish to
disclose his family name, is a young engineering student
from the Lebanese city of Byblos. With passion in his
voice, he said, "Japan is helping the Americans to steal
the oil of Iraq. This means some Iraqi people will want
to harm them to remind the Japanese people that to steal
is a great sin, and it is dangerous to help the
Americans with their crimes." While this is just a
minority opinion, Mohammad's views are nevertheless
disturbing.
Tokyo is doing its utmost to rectify
the negative impressions generated by its support for
Washington's Iraq policy. In other Middle Eastern
countries, such as Iran, where Japan has an especially
strong economic presence, its image has remained largely
favorable despite the troop dispatch. In February, and
against the express wishes of the Bush administration, a
Japanese consortium signed a massive US$2 billion (215
billion yen) deal with Tehran to develop the huge
Azadegan oilfield. This move largely has kept the
Iranians on Tokyo's side.
"On the whole, the
Iranians still feel very positively about Japan, though
I suspect they know nothing of its history," said Dr Ali
Ansari, a lecturer in Middle East history at the
University of Exeter. "Essentially, they view Japan as a
non-Western success story even though this is, strictly
speaking, not true, but they are also fond of the
Japanese sensitivity to culture. All these things play
well with Iranians, many of whom work in Japan, or used
to, and send the money back home."
Palestinian issue divides Washington and
Tokyo To distance itself from Washington further,
Tokyo has recently highlighted its different approach to
the Israeli-Palestinian problem. "Today, the United
States and Japan continue to stand apart on the
Palestinian issue, and this divide was made strikingly
clear after President Bush overturned a long-standing US
policy that condemned all settlements and upheld, in
principle, the Palestinian right of return," de Boer
said. "All cabinet members in Japan agree that Bush's
'unilateral' moves are an obstacle to peace in the
Middle East. Japanese newspaper editorials have been
even more vocal in denouncing US endorsement of [Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon's policy."
Zalman
Shoval, an adviser to Sharon and a former Israeli
ambassador to the United States, rejects criticisms like
de Boer's, believing that Sharon's unilateral
disengagement plan will be a positive step for the
Middle East. He also totally rejects the idea commonly
advanced in the Japanese media that Israeli and US
policy are the main causes of instability in the Middle
East. Taking a completely opposite view from Tokyo, he
believes the Arab world itself is almost entirely to
blame for its current problems, and Israel is just being
used as a scapegoat.
Shoval told Asia Times
Online: "The Arab peoples today are behind the rest of
the world in most spheres. Why? Is this because of
Israel? Or because of the occupation? Or because of
settlements? Or because of imperialism? No, it's
self-inflicted. Can they change it? Hopefully, yes." His
remarks are strikingly similar to views expressed by
some senior members of the Bush administration.
While Tokyo may have substantial differences
with Washington on its wider Middle East policy, Koizumi
has reaffirmed his pledge to keep Japanese troops in
Iraq. At the moment, this is largely a symbolic gesture,
as the upsurge in violence has confined them to their
isolated high-tech fortress outside the southern Iraqi
city of Samawah. On Thursday two artillery shells were
fired in the direction of the camp, forcing Japanese
troops to evacuate to their bunkers for several hours.
Even so, it seems almost certain Japan will keep its
troops in Iraq. The Japan Defense Agency has already
issued orders to rotate more than 400 of its personnel
at the end of May.
Despite its solid display of
support for Washington in Iraq, Tokyo is likely to
increase its attempts to counterbalance this support by
pursuing a more independent, pro-Arab foreign policy
with the aim of reclaiming its former positive regional
image. This situation could eventually lead to a serious
rift in US-Japan relations as the Bush administration
pursues its staunch pro-Israel foreign policy.
"Japanese officials, intellectuals, journalists
and civil society recognize that Bush is bringing more
chaos to the Middle East than clarity," de Boer said.
"The differences between Japan's approach to the Middle
East from that of the United States is more evident than
ever before, with the exception of Iraq."
J Sean Curtin is aGLOCOMfellow at the Tokyo-based Japanese Institute of
Global Communications.
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