CHAPTER TWO:
BASIC TASKS OF
JAPAN'S FOREIGN POLICY
1. (1) The mission of Japan's foreign policy is to protect liberty and democracy, the basic values on which our nation stands, and to ensure a safe and affluent livelihood for our people.
Japan, under the "peace Constitution," has maintained its basic position of committing itself to peaceful activities, not becoming a military power, and securing its stability and prosperity by pursuing the peace and stability of the whole international community. Our nation, poorly endowed with natural resources needs, above all else, cooperation and harmony with other nations of the world in a stabilized international environment in order to secure its survival and development.
(2) On the other hand our nation's power has been greatly increased in the economic field, and the interdependent relations with other countries have been further increased. As a result, the policy trends of our nation have come to have substantial effects on various aspects of current international relations. It is precisely for this reason that Japan is being expected by other members of the international community to play economic and political roles befitting its international status. What must not be forgotten in this connection is that our efforts in response to such an expectation to contribute to the development and stabilization of international relations are, at the same time, indispensable to assure the security and prosperity of Japan itself, which needs, above all else, world peace and stability. Japan has now reached the stage at which it should participate, autonomously and in a positive way, in the maintenance and organization of international relations.
(3) Especially, the international situation in recent years is coming to show greater fluidity and instability in the political, military and economic fields, and the role to be played by our diplomacy in such a situation is becoming still more important.
2. (1) This country's diplomacy, which aims at fulfilling the above-mentioned mission, must cope, for the time being, with the following situations.
First, as a result of the Soviet Union's consistent military buildup, the military balance between the United States and the Soviet Union is changing in a direction which is not desirable for the Western side, and this kind of military buildup combined with the Soviet Union's advance into the Third World is increasing the severity of international relations centering on East-West relations,
Second, the Third World nations are steadily increasing their voice in the international community, but the political and economic foundations of these nations still remain fragile, and this is causing domestic turbulence and regional disputes, thus making overall international relations more unstable.
Third, the world economy still has no prospect of extricating itself from the various difficulties of energy constraint, inflation, unemployment and low growth. This is threatening to erode the comprehensive power of the Western democracies. It is also hampering the economic development of Third World nations.
(2) Looking back at the international situation through the end of the 1970s toward 1980, what attracts attention most is the fact that several grave incidents arose in the Middle East region, and now it is strongly recognized that the Middle East is where most urgent responses are required for world peace.
In terms of East-West relations, the Middle East together with the Far East and Europe, is an important strategic point. The Soviet Union bas been attaching much importance to this region from a strategic point of view, and it has been making efforts to expand its influence by concluding friendship and cooperation treaties with some of the nations in the region, supplying them with weapons and promoting economic and technical assistance. In December 1979, Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan, and as a direct result of this, East-West relations greatly deteriorated.
On the other hand, a series of incidents, including the Iranian Revolution and the U.S. Embassy hostages incident in 1979 and the Iran-Iraq conflict in 1980, further deepened Japanese concern over the inherent instability of the Middle East region. The main cause of instability of this region is the Arab-Israeli dispute, which has a long history. Besides this, there exist many problems in layers, such as ethnic confrontations, religious and sectarian confrontations and border disputes. Still further, various kinds of political, economic and social contradictions stemming from rapid modernization supported by oil revenues are coming to the surface.
Our serious concern about the increasing instability in the Middle East region is of course closely related to the fact that the region is the world's main energy supply source. The securing of stable oil supplies from this region will remain an indispensable precondition for the world economy's extricating itself from its current difficulties.
(3) 1980 was also a year in which the United States and other Western nations seriously reviewed their perceptions of the international situation, especially East-West relations, and their own foreign policies, in the increasingly severe international situation. In the United States, the newly formed Reagan Administration was inaugurated, with the slogans of "revitalization of the United States" and a "strong America." It was in the midst of various domestic economic difficulties such as inflation, unemployment and low productivity, in addition to such severe external challenges as the Soviet military buildup, the Afghanistan problem and the Polish situation. It attracted our attention that the Reagan Administration adopted a strong posture toward the Soviet Union and the posture of attaching importance to consultation with its allies, under the three principles of consistency, credibility and balance in its external policy.
3. (1) Our country shares in common with the United States, the European Community nations and other advanced democracies, basic political and economic values, and the country's peace and stability are closely related with the peace and stability of advanced democratic society as a whole. This is the reason why solidarity and cooperation with these nations must be the key basis for the conduct of Japan's active peace diplomacy.
Especially, Japan-U.S. friendship and cooperative relations, based on the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty arrangement, have consistently been the foundation of our country's post-war diplomacy. Today, Japan and the U.S. have built up an especially close and comprehensive cooperative relationship, standing on their common values of democracy and liberty. This kind of Japan-U.S. relationship, backed by unshakable trust, was described as "alliance" in the Japan-U.S. Joint Communique issued on the occasion of Prime Minister Suzuki's visit to the United States in May, 1981.
(2) What is important for Japan in strengthening solidarity and cooperation with the advanced democracies in the future is to arrive at a consensus with them in basic perceptions on the international political and economic situations in the first place, and to reach agreement with them on basic strategies for coping with them. For that purpose, it is necessary to hold constant dialogues and consultations with these nations. From this viewpoint, the role of the summit conference, which has come to take root as a place for close consultations on main economic problems among the top leaders themselves, can be fully appreciated.
That Japan should have a common basic perception and strategy with the advanced democracies, including the United States, does not necessarily mean that this country's specific policies should be the same as those of other countries. The important thing for Japan is to play its due role commensurate with its own capability and circumstances, and to contribute to the peace and stability of advanced democratic society, and consequently to the peace and stability of the world. The role of Japan, which has its peace Constitution is greatly limited in the military field, and it is natural that its role should be focused on the political and economic fields.
It also goes without saying that, in order to effectively restrain Soviet actions which have the danger of disturbing world peace and stability, the advanced democracies must fully cooperate with each other for the appropriate policy response. Without this cooperation the deterrence would not be so effective. Acting on this basic way of thinking, Japan as a member of advanced democratic society made its position clear on the occasion of the Afghanistan problem, namely that the Soviet actions could not be tolerated, and it kept this harsh stance vis-a-vis the Soviet Union in a consistent manner.
(3) In the military field, Japan appreciates the United States' defense efforts as contributing to the peace and stability of advanced democratic society. It is essential on Japan's part to secure still smoother and more effective operation of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty arrangement, and at the same time, to make greater efforts for improving its self-defense capabilities based on its own judgment, while obtaining the people's consensus within the framework of the peace Constitution and the principle of adhering strictly to defense.
(4) In parallel with the securing of deterrent power against the Soviet Union through the consolidation of military strength, it is also important from a long-term point of view to strive for a lower level of balance in war potential between the East and the West. In this sense, perseverant efforts for arms control and disarmament, including SALT between the United States and the Soviet Union, are indispensable. We must make still greater efforts for the promotion of concrete and feasible disarmament measures centering on nuclear disarmament, without impairing the security of various nations in the context of the realities of present international relations.
(5) It goes without saying that the development of relations with the Soviet Union, a neighboring country, based on true mutual understanding, is one of the major tasks of our foreign policy. The stabilization of Japan-Soviet relations is indispensable for Japan's security. The conclusion of a peace treaty, after settling the northern territory problem, which is the biggest pending issue between Japan and the Soviet Union, is a basic task of our policy toward the Soviet Union.
4. (1) The countries of Asia are geographically close to Japan which has close historical relations with these countries. Asia is a region where Japan should play a major role for its peace and development. It was from this basic recognition that Prime Minister Suzuki made a round of visits to the ASEAN nations in January, as his first overseas trip after taking office.
We must continue to support the ASEAN nations' efforts for the strengthening of their solidarity and resiliency and also continue positive diplomatic efforts for the settlement of the Cambodian problem, which directly affects the peace and stability of Southeast Asia.
The maintenance of peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula is important for the peace and security of East Asia including Japan. We will maintain and promote friendly and cooperative relations with the Republic of Korea, and, regarding the relations with North Korea, it is proper for us to gradually accumulate economic, cultural and other exchanges.
China pursues modernization of the country as its supreme goal and, therefore, is maintaining a moderate external policy and the policy line of cooperation with the nations of the West. This contributes to the peace and stability of Asia and, consequently, of the world. It is proper for Japan to continue to offer cooperation so that this policy line may be further solidified.
(2) Japan must also make even greater efforts to promote mutual understanding and friendly and cooperative relations, not only with the Asian nations but also with the Third World nations as a whole, and to build up constructive North-South relations. Concretely, the promotion of North-South dialogue in multilateral arenas such as the United Nations, the expansion of economic assistance and the promotion of cooperation in such economic fields as trade and investment, are fields in which Japan should offer contributions in a positive way.
Moreover, it is also important for Japan to play its political role through the promotion of political dialogue with the nations concerned, in order to contribute to the settlement of regional disputes and confrontation in the Third World. It is also important to appreciate the significance of the peace-keeping operations of the United Nations in calming down and preventing such disputes and to play a constructive role for the effective operation of such U.N. functions.
(3) Economic assistance is offered based upon two standard factors, namely the degree of interdependence and humanitarian considerations. The purpose of Japanese economic aid is to assist and support the economic and social development of the developing nations and to contribute to the stabilization of their livelihood and to the improvement of welfare. We firmly believe that the promotion of this kind of economic cooperation in a positive way will contribute to the improvement of the North-South problem and that it will promote the political and economic stability of these nations, bringing about, as a result, the peace and stability of the world as a whole.
Japan has been strengthening assistance to areas which are important in the maintenance of world peace and stability, as seen in the priority basis allocation of assistance to the ASEAN nations, or in increased assistance in recent years to "countries bordering conflicts," such as Thailand, Pakistan and Turkey. Such assistance is being offered for the purpose of preventing the spread of disputes or the occurrence of disputes, through the strengthening of the political and social resiliency of these nations, backed by the stabilization of the livelihood and welfare of their peoples.
Upon this recognition, the government will continue its efforts to improve the ratio of its official development assistance (ODA) to the GNP. It has also a new medium-term goal of making efforts to more than double the total amount of ODA for the five years from 1981 over that for the past five years. The government has thus made clear at home and abroad its policy of promoting economic assistance in a positive way in the future, too.
5. (1) Great is the role which Japan should play as the second largest economic power in the Free World, to overcome the various difficulties facing the world economy and to attain its sustained growth.
In order to restore confidence in the future of the world economy, various nations, especially the advanced industrial nations, must make efforts to strengthen their individual economic constitutions through structural adjustments, and they must also through international cooperation and harmony overcome the energy constraint and prevent trade protectionism. If we fail in the revitalization of the free economy, there will be a marked decline in the overall strength of advanced democratic society as a whole.
(2) It is necessary for us to continue to strengthen the efforts to bring the management of the national economy into harmony with the world economic trend, through such opportunities as summit conferences. We also have to tackle the energy problem. We need to consolidate measures to cope with short-term market disruption, and further promote international cooperation in IEA and other opportunities for the conservation of energy and for the further development and introduction of alternative energy sources.
As for the trade problem with the United States and the European nations, where protectionist pressure is mounting, we must pursue international cooperation aiming at an expanded equilibrium within the framework of a free and open economic system; we need to step up the effort to open our market, to cooperate with the export efforts of our trading partners, and to promote industrial cooperation bilaterally or in third country markets.
It is also very important to continue our utmost efforts for the further opening of our market to the products of the developing nations, although we have been already contributing to the economic development of these nations by offering our big market for their products.
6. In light of the fact that this country's survival and prosperity depend on the maintenance and development of smooth relations with various other nations, the promotion of mutual understanding with the peoples of other countries is one of our basic foreign policy tasks. We must continue to make positive efforts in this area of diplomatic activity, such as cultural interchange and public relations activities.
7. As the international situation has become increasingly severe in recent years, our public concern over the national security problem has grown rapidly, and in December 1980, the "Comprehensive National Security Ministerial Council" was established within the Cabinet. Comprehensive national security was defined as follows: "to secure our national survival or protect our social order from various kinds of external threats which will or may have serious effects on the foundation of our nation's existence, by preventing the arising of such threats, or by properly coping with them in the case of their emergence, through the combination of diplomacy, national defense, economic and other policy measures." In order to ensure the security and survival of our nation and to secure the stability and prosperity of our livelihood, we must continue the effort to ensure our comprehensive security by amassing every national resource available.
In other words, along with greater efforts in the defense field, we need to implement energy, food and other economic policy measures in a consistent manner in terms of comprehensive national security, as well as economic rationality. The most important thing for our comprehensive national security policy however, is to always keep our external environment as peaceful and stable as possible, thereby preventing crises from arising. This is precisely the basic task of our foreign policy. It is for this reason that we must strive for the positive conduct of our peace diplomacy. It is necessary for Japan to continue to strengthen friendly and cooperative relations with other nations, and further strengthen its diplomatic efforts to contribute to the peace and stability of international society as a whole.