Section 2. Objectives and Priorities of Japan's Foreign Policy
On November 12, 1990, Sokui Rei Seiden no Gi, or the Enthronement of His Majesty the Emperor, took place as the principal ceremony in the Sokuino Rei, or the Ceremonies of the Accession to the Throne. A total of 474 representatives from 158 countries, the EC and the United Nations, as well as the diplomatic corps in Tokyo, attended the ceremony. The fact that so many attended the ceremony amidst the Gulf Crisis showed, as in the case of the Funeral of Emperor Showa in February 1989, the profound respect for and attachment to the Japanese Imperial Family, as well as the heightened status in the world community of Japan today, and the great interest countries have in Japan. This increased importance they attach to Japan also reflects their rising expectations of Japan.
Amidst the search by the international community for a new order, how should Japan's foreign policy respond to these interests and expectations?
1. Impact of the Gulf Crisis - Domestic Changes
(1) The Gulf Crisis was a major challenge for Japan's foreign policy and instigated a change in it. Japan made a financial contribution of $13 billion through new tax increases to support the multinational forces and the affected countries in the Gulf region; it sent seven groups, with a total of 66 persons, from the Japan Disaster Relief Teams to the Gulf region immediately after the cease-fire to deal with environmental destructions and to assist refugees. Japan also dispatched minesweepers of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces to the Gulf to assist in removing mines after the cease-fire. In such activities, the new image of Japan can be found as a country that has begun to search for a share of responsibility and a role, commensurate with its economic strength and international position, in international cooperative actions to ensure the peace and stability of the world. Though the United Nations Peace Cooperation Bill did not pass the Diet, domestic consensus has been built, through the debate of the Bill, on the need to consolidate the domestic preparedness including the legal aspect, for participating in and cooperating with international cooperative actions, such as the Peace-keeping Operations by the United Nations.
At the time of the Gulf Crisis, the limited presence of Japan in international cooperative actions was a subject of international criticism. But so far as Japan had to cope with many problems for the first time without required preparations, such as policies, arrangements and legal preparations necessary to cope with such emergencies, as well as the absence of public consensus on these issues, it was inevitable to some extent that the Japanese Government's responses were insufficient or delayed.
(2) It is still too early to judge comprehensively the impact of the Gulf Crisis on Japan's foreign policy. However, it is observed that at least the following two points have become evident through the wide-ranging domestic debates on the Gulf Crisis in Japan.
First, the strong public opposition to the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces abroad with the objective of using military force, which is prohibited by the Constitution, was reconfirmed. On the other hand, voices are mounting that Japan should not confine its contribution toward maintaining the peace and stability of the world to a financial one, but that human resource contributions should also be made, toward which the Self-Defense Forces and their personnel should be used within the limit of the Constitution.
The recognition by the Japanese Government on the rise in public opinion lies in the background of its dispatch of the Japan Disaster Relief Teams to cope with environmental destructions and to assist refugees in the Gulf region, as well as of the minesweepers to remove the remaining mines. Volunteer activities in the private sector to participate in humanitarian assistance abroad have become active since the Gulf Crisis, and they also reflect public opinion.
In terms of human resource contribution, the Japan Disaster Relief Teams, since their formal inauguration in 1987, have established a record of taking part in disaster relief efforts, such as in the aftermath of the Armenian earthquake in December 1988 and the Luzon earthquake in the Philippines in July 1990. More recently, apart from the abovementioned measures for environment and support for refugees in the Gulf, a group from the Teams composed of 50 firefighters and two helicopters was sent to assist in flood relief in Bangladesh in August 1991. So far, 286 people from the Japan Disaster Relief Teams have been sent to 25 countries to assist in 38 emergencies (Note).
In the area of the so-called "cooperation for peace," which includes the U.N. Peace-keeping Operations, Japan has sent Foreign Ministry officials to the U.N. Peace-keeping Operations since 1988 for the Afghanistan problem and the Iran-Iraq conflict. Japan also participated in the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) in Namibia (27 individuals in November 1989) and the United Nations Observation Mission to Verify the Electoral Process in Nicaragua (6 individuals in February 1990). In relation to the Gulf Crisis, a specialist (a former Self-Defense Forces officer and now the Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs) was sent as a member of the United Nations Special Commission on the destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
To what extent the Self-Defense Forces are to be used for the activities to secure international peace, such as the U.N. Peace-keeping Operations, or in disaster relief operations carried out by the Japan Disaster Relief Teams, should be decided through deliberations on relevant legislation in the Diet. Nevertheless, it can be judged that it will become increasingly important for Japan to participate in and cooperate with international cooperative activities through human resource contributions to secure the peace and stability of the international community. The rising interest among the Japanese public on this issue, triggered by the Gulf Crisis, is encouraging in this respect.
(3) Another point that has become clear through national debates over the Gulf Crisis is that there are rising voices seeking for Japan's foreign policy to establish its own identity. It is also internationally expected of Japan to exhibit its own judgment and to take initiatives in its diplomatic activities on various problems of international politics, establishing its identity through utilizing its own strength.
On the post-crisis issues in the Gulf, the fact that Japan took positive actions to cope with environmental destructions and to assist refugees in Iran and Turkey, and appealed to the international community on the importance of restricting the transfer of conventional weapons, is internationally appraised as Japan's diplomatic activities establishing its own identity. How to enhance such diplomatic activities will be an important policy task for Japan in the coming years both domestically and internationally.
2. Japan's Foreign Policy at a Turning Point
(1) As mentioned above, faced with the major challenge of the Gulf Crisis, Japan's foreign policy showed a new development. However, even if there had not been a Gulf Crisis, Japan's foreign policy would have come to a point where it should be showing a new turn.
Japan's foreign policy after World War II can be summarized as having developed through two major stages. The first stage was the period of postwar settlements and reconstruction, ranging from 1945 when the war ended until the early 1970s. The objectives of Japan's foreign policy then were to ensure its reversion to the international community through the conclusion of peace treaties, the restoration of diplomatic relations and the admission to U.N. organizations and other international institutions, as well as to construct international relationships necessary for the reconstruction of its economy.
There could be a number of arguments over when the postwar period ended in this history of Japan's foreign relations. As far as the recognition the Government of Japan has made public is concerned, the return of Okinawa in 1972 ended the "postwar" period. With the normalization of Japan-China relations in the same year, the only remaining major issues in international relations in terms of postwar settlements have come to be to conclude the Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union by settling the Northern Territorial Issue and to normalize relations with North Korea. Progress is now seen even in these two standing issues: it was agreed to accelerate the preparatory work to conclude the Peace Treaty between Japan and the Soviet Union when President Gorbachev visited Japan, and negotiations to normalize relations with North Korea have also begun.
(2) The second stage in the development of Japan's foreign policy is the period in which Japan endeavored to expand its responsibility and role as a "Western industrialized democracy," covering approximately the two decades of the 1970s and the 1980s.
Through the economic reconstruction in the abovementioned "postwar" period, Japan had gained the strength of the second largest gross national product (GNP) in the free world by the latter half of the 1960s. Against the background of this economic strength, it was in the 1970s that Japan established its position as one of the Western industrialized democracies. What symbolized this was the Summit of the Industrialized Countries (Economic Summit) which was launched in 1975 and which for the first time included Japan together with the five other participants, those being the United States, the United Kingdom, France, West Germany and Italy.
The role sought for Japan during the 1970s as a Western industrialized democracy was confined to the economic field. However, at the occasion of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan at the end of 1979, Japan participated in political actions of the West to impose economic sanctions against the Soviet Union. Moreover, faced with the emergence in the Soviet Union of SS-20 missiles, mobile nuclear missiles that can threaten both Western Europe and Asia, and the rapid Soviet military buildups in the Far East, then Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone expressed in the Williamsburg Summit of 1983 that Japan shared with Western leaders the perception of the indivisibility of Western security. Japan's say in the G-7 Summit has been further strengthened thereafter. At the Houston Summit in 1990, there was no country that opposed until the final stage, when Japan stated that it would gradually resume its third ODA loan to China from the viewpoint of promoting China's policies for reform and openness. This illustrated the arrival of an era in which other countries respect Japan's decisions on issues in the Asia-Pacific region when they are made with Japan's own judgment and on its own responsibility. And as it became clear in the London Summit, Japan's arguments are beginning to have a considerable influence on the assessments of problems and policy judgments of the Western world on global political issues such as those on economic assistance to the Soviet Union and restricting the transfer of conventional weapons.
(3) Nevertheless, the concept of the Western industrialized democracies is now losing its significance in terms of international politics. The end of the Cold War has made the conceptual meaning of the "West" ambiguous. Moreover, the era in which the concept of "industrialized democracies" applies to Japan alone in the Asia-Pacific region is ending. This is because the industrialization of countries such as the Republic of Korea and the ASEAN members has been progressing and the influence of the dynamic economic activities of the so-called Asian NIEs (Newly Industrializing Economies) on the world economy growing.
Consequently, international policy coordination by Japan has to expand its range. Of course, this does not mean that Japan should depart from the alliance with the United States or the special relations of policy coordination with the G-7 Summit countries. As stated earlier, the strengthening of Japan-U.S. relations and Japan-European relations is becoming an increasingly important mission for Japan's foreign policy. However, in addition to policy coordination with the United States and other G-7 countries, it has also become important for Japan to construct relationships with the countries in the Asia-Pacific region that secure policy coordination on international issues. Irrespective of whether to term the future development of Japan's foreign policy as the third stage, there is no doubt that the evolution into a new phase, which was not seen during the 1970s and 1980s, is now being sought. One aspect of this evolution would be the construction of relationships which secure policy coordination on international issues with the countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
There are precedents in policy coordination with the countries in the Asia-Pacific region, such as cooperation with the ASEAN countries on the Vietnamese refugee problem and the Cambodian problem. However, relations between Japan and the Asia-Pacific countries have tended to center on bilateral relations, mainly in the form of economic cooperation, trade and investment.
Henceforth, multilateral cooperation becomes important in the economic aspect, such as seen in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). What would also become a major policy task is the policy coordination on problems related to politics and security including the reduction of tensions and creation of stability in such areas where confrontations and disputes remain, as the Korean Peninsula, Cambodia and the South China Sea, and prevention of North Korea's developing nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the transnational issues, which include the environment, refugees, drugs and terrorism, will be important issues for policy coordination between Japan and the Asia-Pacific countries.
This is all the more reason why a further enhancement of mutual trust between Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries becomes an indispensable task. It is important for this that Japan firmly adheres to the policy that it will not become a military power. Furthermore, it is important that Japan listens to the fears and concerns that Asia-Pacific countries may have of Japan and takes initiatives to participate in political dialogues with these countries to promote debate on these issues, so that Japan can deepen mutual trust with these countries. When Foreign Minister Nakayama proposed at the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference in July 1991 that the Conference be utilized as a forum for political dialogue "for mutual reassurance among the friendly countries," he did so from such a recognition.
(4) Japan's foreign policy being at the verge of entering a new stage is not confined to the dimension of policy coordination. More importantly, it has to be pointed out that Japan today is in a position to influence virtually all issues related to the construction of a new international order. As evident from Section 1, Japan is now in a position to have a major impact on the consequences of all the problems related to the foundations of the future international order, including attainment of the sustainable growth of the world economy, assistance to the Soviet Union, settlement of regional conflicts, promotion of arms control and disarmament, enhanced cooperation toward solving transnational issues, strengthening of the United Nations, and trilateral coordination among Japan, the United States and Europe. Moreover, Japan will have to play a central role for the stability and development of the Asia-Pacific region, which is another important dimension of the future international order.
It is naturally expected that Japan's new foreign policy, which can influence the construction of a new world order, will differ from its previous policy.
3. Objectives and Priorities of Japan's Foreign Policy
(1) One of the responsibilities of Japan, which has become capable of influencing the construction of an international order, is to articulate the philosophy of Japan's foreign policy and to make clear constantly to the international community the ideals and objectives which Japan pursues internationally. The identity of Japan's foreign policy should be pursued in the process of such efforts. Through these efforts, an answer would find itself to the criticism repeatedly heard both at home and abroad that "Japan's foreign policy does not have a face."
There should be little dispute about the fact that the philosophy of Japan's foreign policy is found in the spirit of its Constitution. Provisions of Article 9 of the Constitution and the "high ideals and purposes" indicated in the preamble of the Constitution contain none other than the philosophy on which Japan's foreign policy stands. Article 9 of the Constitution states: "Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes."
And the Preamble of the Constitution states the following ideals:
"We, the Japanese people .....have determined to preserve our security and existence, trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving people of the world;"
"We desire to occupy an honored place in an international society striving for the preservation of peace, and the banishment of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance for all time from the earth;"
"We recognize that all peoples of the world have the right to live in peace, free from fear and want;"
"We believe that no nation is responsible to itself alone, but that laws of political morality are universal; and that obedience to such laws is incumbent upon all nations who would sustain their own sovereignty and justify their sovereign relationship with other nations."
(2) On the other hand, now that Japan has become a country that can greatly influence the international order, it is of paramount importance for Japan not only to pledge at home and abroad that Japan deems such universal ideals and objectives as its own ideals and objectives, but also to actively fulfill its responsibility and role, even by making some sacrifice, for the realization of such ideals and objectives.
An identity of a country is less clearly demonstrated since the ideals and philosophy that each country should pursue are becoming universal, based on the U.N. Charter. With this in mind, for Japan to pursue the establishment of its identity in the field of foreign policy, it is important to demonstrate both at home and abroad the vision of the ideal world that Japan pursues and the policy objectives to which it attaches importance for the realization of such a world.
The concept of the new international order articulated by Prime Minister Kaifu in his policy speech of March 1990 is important in this respect. Recognizing that the international community has begun to seek a new international order in the sequences of the changes in Europe and the end of the Cold War, Prime Minister Kaifu explained that the international order Japan pursues must be one aiming at, "first, the guarantee of peace and security; second, the respect of freedom and democracy; third, securing the prosperity of the world under a system of open market economy; fourth, protecting an environment in which humanitarian standard of living is ensured; and fifth, establishing stable international relations based on dialogue and cooperation." This thinking goes along with the current stream of thought in the international community, in which importance is placed on ensuring democracy as declared later in the Houston Summit and on strengthening the international order as declared in the London Summit.
(3) This thinking also matches the "international cooperation initiative" which the Japanese Government has been promoting since the Takeshita Cabinet and is based on the three pillars of "cooperation for peace," "enhancement of Official Development Assistance (ODA)" and "strengthening international cultural exchanges." Moreover, the range of the "international cooperation initiative" has been expanded and enhanced since it was launched by the Takeshita Cabinet in order to respond to the requirements of the changing international community. For instance, "cooperation for peace" has come to include financial assistance and technical cooperation to support the democratization process and the introduction of a market economy in such countries as those in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and Mongolia, as well as the dispatching after the Gulf War of the Japan Disaster Relief Teams to assist refugees and of the minesweepers to clear mines in the Gulf waters. Furthermore, the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, which was created following a proposal made by former Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe when he visited the United States to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty in June 1990, is attracting tremendous attention in both countries. The Center is highly evaluated as a strongly motivated and unprecedented initiative in "strengthening international cultural exchanges" in its attempts to enhance dramatically exchanges among various circles and intellectual exchanges between the two countries with the objective of constructing a closer Japan-U.S. relationship.
(4) Nevertheless, today when the international community is seeking a new international order, and when Japan's foreign policy itself is at a turning point, there is a need to review Japan's overall foreign policy, both in terms of its objectives and the instruments to attain such objectives, while adding a new perspective. The following four points are particularly important as the objectives of Japan's foreign policy.
The first point is to expend actively diplomatic efforts in political affairs to help enhance the peace and security of the world.
This does not mean alteration of the basic defense policy of Japan, which is based on an exclusively defense-oriented posture. Japan, while upholding the Japan-U.S. security arrangements firmly and providing various supports to ensure the presence of the U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as strengthening defense cooperation with the United States, as far as its defense capabilities are concerned, adhered consistently to the maintenance of an exclusively defense-oriented posture under the basic guideline that Japan will never become a military power. It is clear that this basic stance has contributed to the stability of the Asia-Pacific region, and it is important for Japan to continue to adhere to this policy. Japan, under the present Constitution, cannot participate in military actions in the way that the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) can, although some in the United States and Europe hope for such Japanese participation. Given Japan's position in the international political arena, Japan should not do so either.
Nonetheless, it is important for Japan to always be interested in problems related to the peace and security of the world, and to demonstrate clearly its posture of playing an active and leading role in securing the peace and stability. In order to do this, it is obviously indispensable for Japan to make all preparations, including those involving legislation, so as to enable Japan to put into practice all it can within the framework of the Constitution. One of the reasons for the demands and pressures from the United States and others could have been the absence on the part of Japan of a clear posture, backed by domestic preparedness, on assuming its responsibility and role for maintaining peace and stability in the world.
The area in which Japan should demonstrate the identity of its foreign policy to enhance peace and security is naturally the area of arms control and disarmament in the broad sense of the term. This includes promoting arms control and disarmament as well as non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, a comprehensive prohibition on biological and chemical weapons, and control of the transfer of conventional weapons. This is underscored by Japan being the only victim of nuclear bombs, and a country which virtually does not export weapons or related manufacturing equipments, and thereby taking a very advanced policy in this field. It is of international importance for Japan, being such a country, to assume a leading role in this field. In this context, in the period between the end of the Gulf Crisis and the holding of the London Summit, Japan hosted the United Nations Kyoto Conference on Disarmament, appealed for the necessity to strengthen arrangements for arms control centering on the problem of regulating transfers of conventional weapons, and advocated the improvement and enhancement of the safeguard system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). These efforts were appreciated internationally and were also effective in marking the Japanese identity.
The problem of North Korea's nuclear weapons development falls in the same category. It is no exaggeration to say that all countries wishing to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons are ardently hoping that Japan, while cooperating with relevant countries, plays an active role in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.
Another area in which Japan should demonstrate its identity in enhancing the peace and security of the world is the settlement of confrontations and conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region. In this context, the Korean Peninsula and Cambodia are most important for the time being. As mentioned above, it is necessary for Japan to further strengthen efforts to enhance the sense of mutual reassurance with the countries in the Asia-Pacific region, which in turn will enable Japan to fulfill its political role effectively in the region.
The second important point as an objective of Japan's foreign policy is to demonstrate its stance clearly to participate in and cooperate with international efforts to protect such universal values as democracy and fundamental human rights.
As stated earlier, Japan, which now has a major influence on the international order, should not only continue adhering to the universal values of freedom and democracy, rule of law and fundamental human rights, but must also be aware of the importance of protecting these values through action. The resolute attitude Japan took at the time of the Tiananmen Square incident of June 1989 and its criticism against the putschists during the Soviet coup d'etat significantly represent such actions.
In the projected future international situation, the collapse of the communist one-party rule in Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union should affect the socialist countries in other regions. Moreover, the possibility of civil war and international disputes arising from ethnic problems is pointed out as among the anticipated international issues. For settling ethnic problems also, it is important at least to secure the universal values of ensuring democracy, respecting fundamental human rights and rectifying the disparity in living conditions. Furthermore, after the East-West ideological confrontation has diminished its significance as a factor defining international relations, whether or not a nation shares the universal values held by the international community will become a major factor in determining the sense of solidarity and cooperative relations in international politics.
Given this situation, it will become ever more important for Japan to articulate its posture on these universal values in terms of its foreign policy. Japan can do so in a variety of ways, which include the expression of the government position, the provision of economic cooperation to Central and Eastern Europe and Mongolia, which are trying to introduce democracy, and the imposition of economic sanctions against countries which do not respect human rights such as South Africa until recently. However, the most important point for dealing with the problems in this area is to convey Japan's basic thinking clearly and at the right time to the international community. In this context, it is significant and has already attracted international attention that the Government of Japan announced in April 1991 its stance to take into consideration when extending ODA, trends in military expenditures, the posture on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, and trends in the export and import of weapons, as well as efforts for promoting democratization and the situation on securing fundamental human rights, in the recipient country.
The third important point related to the future objective of Japan's foreign policy is to place importance on issues that concern the mankind as a whole as its priority. These issues are significant from a humanitarian viewpoint, and they require cooperation beyond national borders. Such issues include the global environment, refugees, large-scale disaster relief and drugs. Coping with these issues, in a way, coincide with protecting universal values. It ought to be noted that these issues are the areas where Japan can demonstrate its strong points in terms of human resource contribution, which will be discussed later.
Another point to be mentioned in relation to the foreign policy objective is that Japan's responsibilities and role in the international economy will expand further. It is no exaggeration to say that assuming a leading role in international cooperation to maintain and strengthen the free trading system, to solve the economic difficulties of the developing countries and to support the efforts of the Soviet Union, Central and Eastern European and Asian socialist countries to introduce democracy and a market economy is an international responsibility of Japan, a country recognized as an economic power at home and abroad.
(5) The most important policy instrument needed for Japan to fulfill its international responsibilities and role continues to be economic cooperation. In this context, enhancement of ODA is a priority policy task.
Japan is situated in the Asia-Pacific region, where there are many developing countries and where economic development is a major political objective. Japan itself has the experience of acquiring technology and knowledge learning from the advanced countries of Europe and the United States and has developed into a modern state. All the more, it is Japan's mission in the international community to extend cooperation to the developing countries and this is the most important area in which Japan can demonstrate its identity.
What is important in this context is that the expectations of the international community for Japan to transfer technology and investment through its private sector are great. Therefore, various policy measures on the part of the Government to promote and support the private corporate efforts toward that direction are as important as ODA.
As for the policy objectives of what should be attained through economic and technological cooperation, it will be important to place priority on the environmental problem, which is already a global issue. In this field, the experience and knowledge of the Japanese society, which excruciatingly endeavored to overcome pollution resulting from industrial development, as well as its energy conservation technology which was developed through its efforts to cope with the two oil crises, can serve as valuable references for many developing countries. Japan can extend cooperation by making use of such experiences and advantageous characteristics of Japan.
It goes without saying that economic and technological cooperation has crucial importance in securing regional stability after the settlement of conflicts in such regions as Asia, Africa and Latin America, and in supporting the countries that have departed from communism and planned economies and are trying to introduce democracy and a market economy, as those countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Mongolia and the recent Soviet Union. In addition, while it is somewhat peripheral from the viewpoint of development cooperation, the perspective of utilizing ODA for the solution of refugee and drug problems is also important in contributing to the peace and stability of the world.
Another important task in terms of foreign policy instruments is to expand the so-called human resource cooperation, through which the Japanese themselves participate in international assistance operations, such as assistance to refugees, restoration efforts after natural disasters, environmental protection and emergency medical aid, or participate in the U.N. Peace-keeping Operations.
This human resource cooperation is, as in the abovementioned cases for economic and technological cooperation, basically a policy instrument. What is more important is the policy objective of what should be achieved through such cooperation. However, in this field of human resource cooperation, there has been a limited amount of Japanese participation and cooperation, and this has been considered problematic in the international community. Therefore, just as Japan has endeavored to expand its ODA systematically, it is necessary for Japan now, with a clear policy objective, to expand human resource cooperation over a considerable period, including strengthened assistance to non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
(6) In recent years, it is pointed out that, in dealing with information as an instrument of foreign policy, enhancing measures is necessary both in terms of hardware and software at each stage of collecting, analyzing, evaluating and conveying information. This is not limited to the field of information. It has become increasingly important to strengthen the institution for foreign policy execution, as well as to foster the human resources that can answer to the requests of the new era.
Note :Excluding the coordinators who were dispatched to survey the situation and oversee the distribution of aid, a total of 266 persons were sent as members of medical teams, rescue teams and expert teams to 19 emergencies in 13 countries.