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IRAQ: Japan Walks Tightrope on Pushing for U.S. or U.N. Role
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Apr 15 (IPS) - Japan continues to walk a slippery political
tightrope, this time in balancing its traditional support for the United
Nations and multilateralism and the strategic value it puts on having
Washington's backing during these tense times in the Korean peninsula.
Tokyo found itself in a tight spot just before the U.S.-led invasion,
caught between its long-time security ties with the United States and
pacifist calls at home.
Now, in the wake of the collapse of the Saddam Hussein's regime in
Iraq, it finds itself busy trying to find middle ground between sticking by
the United Nations against openly supporting U.S. plans for running
post-Saddam Iraq plans that have been criticised for its insensitivity to
Middle Eastern realities.
This is all happening against the backdrop of a Japan worried by
neighbouring North Korea's bellicose statements about U.S. 'threats'
against it and warnings that it will fight back if Washington treats it
like another Iraq, despite the latest reports that Pyongyang may now be
open to multilateral talks on its nuclear programme.
''The dilemma in a nutshell,'' said political analyst Kichiya
Kobayashi, ''is trying to keep Washington happy to defend Japan from North
Korea, and at the same time supporting the United Nations so as to prevent
such an attack.''
In visits to Paris, London and Beijing, Foreign Minister Yoriko
Kawaguchi has been talking about the need for the international community
to be part of rebuilding Iraq, for the U.N. Security Council to pass a
resolution that cements such cooperation, and for the United States and
Europe to mend fences over Iraq.
''In the post-Saddam era, Japan must work hard to act as a mediator,''
Shinzo Abe, deputy chief cabinet secretary, said in a published commentary.
''Japan can urge the United States and Britain to abide by the United
Nations.''
Yukio Okamoto, diplomatic adviser to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi,
said after returning from the Middle East on Monday that Tokyo also has to
help Egypt, Jordan and other countries in the region.
''Japan has to think about the entire Arab world,'' he told NHK
Television. ''The Arab world is unhappy with the war, and the initial
euphoria about ousting Saddam coould change if there is no progress on the
economic and political front in Iraq.''
Officially, the Japanese line has been that the United Nations the
institution that Tokyo has been long been calling for reform in, and asking
to make space to countries like Japan - must have a major role in the
reconstruction and interim administration of Iraq.
But others read the political scene differently. They say that U.S.
military success in Iraq shows that it is worth it for Japan to have
Washington staunchly on its side especially given its worries over North
Korea's nuclear programme and the United States' anger over it.
Therefore, they argue, Tokyo should stand by Washington in the wake of
criticism about its plans to designate a retired general, Jay Garner, to
head the interim administration and report to the chief of the U.S. Central
Command, Gen Tommy Franks.
Typical of this argument is an editorial last week by the largest
daily, 'Yomiuri': ''The fall of the Saddam regime has shown that the United
States has a profoundly important role to play in defending world peace. It
has also been proven that Japan's alliance with the United States is
extremely important to this nation's security.''
In contrast stands the 'Chugoku Shimbun' published in the Hiroshima
prefecture, which on Apr. 6 stated: ''The U.N. collective security system
has helped prevent large-scale conflicts in the world. In light of this,
the American use of force against Iraq constitutes a violation of the U.N.
Charter.''
''The Bush administration's war on Iraq has ignored U.N.-centred
collective responsibility,'' said Keiko Otsuru, who teaches international
relations at Kansai University. ''Japan can only lose by siding with such
policy.''
Otsuru explained that standing firm against the U.S.-led war would have
better served Japan's policy of engagement with North Korea, instead of
using the U.S. security umbrella that only makes Pyongyang even more
insecure and hostile toward Japan.
There are members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which steers
Japan's ruling coalition, who share such a view. Yuriko Koike, who visits
the Middle East regularly, did not mince words: '''The American plan to
democratise the Middle East is extremely naive - it will only destabilise
the region.''
But the foreground of Japan-U.S. ties is their 1952 security pact,
which after Japan's defeat in World War II allowed U.S. military bases to
stay in return for the defence of Japanese territory. This has been the
lynchpin of a relationship that has seen Japan's foreign policy stand
steadfast behind the United States for 50 years.
The issue of North Korea certainly makes Japan's position on the U.S.
and U.N. role in a post-war Iraq an even more complicated one.
Japan needs U.S. protection in case North Korea lashes out its
neighbours. But it also wants to be on the good side of the United Nations
because it wants a political dialogue on North Korea there Tokyo had been
pushing for this, along with China and South Korea.
Thus, while Tokyo has been trying to keep U.S. support, it has also
been working on nurturing contacts with its neighbours, China and South
Korea, for a multilateral solution and dialogue to the North Korean issue.
Last week, Kawaguchi went on a three-day visit to Beijing to boost ties
and solidify a U.N. role for containing any possible conflict around the
issue of North Korea.
She was partially successful. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who had
earlier turned down a visit to Japan soon, told Kawaguchi that China's
leadership is ready to improve ties and strengthen ties with Japan.
Experts contend that Kawaguchi's trip demonstrates a growing urgency in
East Asia to put forward a united front for a diplomatic settlement on
North Korea. Koizumi has said, ''Japan will make its utmost effort to solve
the (North Korean) crisis through political means.''
Already, in recent years and not least because of North Korea's
missile testing - many Japanese have been fretting about a possible
conflict in the Korean pensinsula. Some of these worries can be seen in
proposals in the Diet or Parliament for measures by which Japan can address
a possible conflict.
This month, the LDP-led coalition plans to pass through the lower house
of Parliament emergency bills for the deployment of Japan's Self Defence
Forces in the event of a national emergency. (END/2003)
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