EDITORIAL: Japan should push democracy, not just deals on resources, in Central Asia
The important efforts to strengthen Japan’s ties with resource-rich countries must not be preoccupied with short-term interests. Instead, a constructive and lasting involvement is needed.
The Central Asian country of Turkmenistan boasts the world’s fourth-largest reserves of natural gas. And in East Asia, Mongolia has a wealth of mineral resources ranging from coal and copper to rare metals. The leaders of these two countries recently visited Japan and met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan agreed to increase the number of Japanese companies operating in Turkmenistan, mainly in the area of natural resources development. Companies from the two countries will cooperate on a project worth 1 trillion yen ($10 billion) that includes the construction of gas chemical-related plant.
Tokyo also reached a long-term agreement to have Mongolia supply coal to Japan.
Central Asian countries used to be part of the Soviet Union, and Mongolia was one of its satellite states. They are invariably rich in natural resources and are also important on the Eurasian continent due to their strategic locations between China and Russia.
The confusion that ensued after the “Arab Spring” uprisings as well as the current situation in Syria has rapidly made the energy supply from the Middle East more nebulous. In such times, it is increasingly important for Japan to strengthen its ties with emerging resource-rich countries.
But there are also concerns.
During the latest presidential visit, the governments of Japan and Turkmenistan agreed to oppose any unilateral attempt to change the existing situation in the global community by force, no matter which countries are involved. Japan and Mongolia also agreed to cooperate on common values, such as freedom and democracy.
These agreements strongly reflect the “values-based diplomacy” that Abe is promoting in light of the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands and the one-party rule of China by the Communist Party.
However, China’s president, Xi Jinping, also recently visited four countries in Central Asia, and was quite successful in his version of resources diplomacy, including an agreement with Turkmenistan to increase China’s natural gas imports.
For Central Asian countries as well as Mongolia, China is a dominant stakeholder in their trade and foreign investment. They have no choice but to rely on their neighbor’s economic power to help them build their countries and develop their natural resources. That is the reality in the region.
Given the geopolitical situation there, Japan should not pit itself against China. Japan’s focus should be to assist this region in ways that China, with its one-party rule and state-led economy, would find difficult. For example, Japan’s assistance should be about helping things like democracy, fair market economies and positive investment environments take root and thrive in those countries.
Since gaining independence, many Central Asian countries have seen nothing but autocratic rule with the media and the judiciary monopolized by the government to clamp down on opposition.
There is no chance for healthy opposition parties or a healthy middle class to expand their ranks. And there is always the potential for anti-government uprisings similar to those of the “Arab Spring.”
Offering the kind of steadfast assistance that will remove these anxieties could ensure stability in the region, which in turn would be beneficial to Japan.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 15
The Central Asian country of Turkmenistan boasts the world’s fourth-largest reserves of natural gas. And in East Asia, Mongolia has a wealth of mineral resources ranging from coal and copper to rare metals. The leaders of these two countries recently visited Japan and met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan agreed to increase the number of Japanese companies operating in Turkmenistan, mainly in the area of natural resources development. Companies from the two countries will cooperate on a project worth 1 trillion yen ($10 billion) that includes the construction of gas chemical-related plant.
Tokyo also reached a long-term agreement to have Mongolia supply coal to Japan.
Central Asian countries used to be part of the Soviet Union, and Mongolia was one of its satellite states. They are invariably rich in natural resources and are also important on the Eurasian continent due to their strategic locations between China and Russia.
The confusion that ensued after the “Arab Spring” uprisings as well as the current situation in Syria has rapidly made the energy supply from the Middle East more nebulous. In such times, it is increasingly important for Japan to strengthen its ties with emerging resource-rich countries.
But there are also concerns.
During the latest presidential visit, the governments of Japan and Turkmenistan agreed to oppose any unilateral attempt to change the existing situation in the global community by force, no matter which countries are involved. Japan and Mongolia also agreed to cooperate on common values, such as freedom and democracy.
These agreements strongly reflect the “values-based diplomacy” that Abe is promoting in light of the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands and the one-party rule of China by the Communist Party.
However, China’s president, Xi Jinping, also recently visited four countries in Central Asia, and was quite successful in his version of resources diplomacy, including an agreement with Turkmenistan to increase China’s natural gas imports.
For Central Asian countries as well as Mongolia, China is a dominant stakeholder in their trade and foreign investment. They have no choice but to rely on their neighbor’s economic power to help them build their countries and develop their natural resources. That is the reality in the region.
Given the geopolitical situation there, Japan should not pit itself against China. Japan’s focus should be to assist this region in ways that China, with its one-party rule and state-led economy, would find difficult. For example, Japan’s assistance should be about helping things like democracy, fair market economies and positive investment environments take root and thrive in those countries.
Since gaining independence, many Central Asian countries have seen nothing but autocratic rule with the media and the judiciary monopolized by the government to clamp down on opposition.
There is no chance for healthy opposition parties or a healthy middle class to expand their ranks. And there is always the potential for anti-government uprisings similar to those of the “Arab Spring.”
Offering the kind of steadfast assistance that will remove these anxieties could ensure stability in the region, which in turn would be beneficial to Japan.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 15
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