Diplomacy Also Volatile

Instead of ordinary policy speech, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reported his diplomatic achievement to both Houses on the first day of annual Diet session on Monday. It was obvious that he was satisfied with the agreement on settling comfort woman issue between Japan and Republic of Korea last yearend. He looked forward to hosting Group 7, or 8, Summit in May. Abe might be covering economic volatility up with relatively stable diplomatic relationship.

Abe started his speech with his successful improvement in relation with South Korea on comfort woman issue. “In the meeting with President Park Geun-hye last November, we agreed with accelerating discussion on comfort woman issue in the viewpoint of not disturbing future generation. Based on that, through Foreign Ministers’ meeting on December 28^th and telephone talk with the President, the issue was to be solved finally and irreversibly,” said Abe. He stressed new phase of future-looking relationship between Japan and South Korea.

Obviously, all opposite parties including Japan Communist Party welcomed the outcome of the Ministers’ meeting. United States expected the agreement to lead to a rapprochement of its two main Asian allies. But, the sentiment of Korean people is basically against personality of Abe. Both nations have another, supposedly more serious, territorial problem over Take-shima Island. It is too soon to call the final solution of bilateral issues.

For Abe, the Summit meeting in Japan will be a highlight of this year to demonstrate his leadership in international relations. “Japan is the chair country of G8 this year. Japanese diplomacy leads the world. With close cooperation with the world, I will exercise leadership,” appealed Abe. He looked like believing in his own ability to deal with any international issue as the chairman of developed nations.

What can Abe do for the fight against terrorism, anyway? While he stressed the achievement of G20 Summit last November as delivering message of being united to tackle the fight against terrorism, he has even not been successful in inviting Russia to G7 summit so far. What he emphasized in the speech was a boasting that “a principle of not threatening with force or changing status quo with power is penetrating in international society.”

Relationship with China is not as good as Abe argues. “I agreed with Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, on a notion that Japan and China are in a direction to improved relation based on a concept of strategic reciprocity,” said Abe. According to current report, China is deploying new cruiser around disputed Senkaku Island. What is the benefit of it for Japan in the context of strategic reciprocity?