Japan calls for an end to authoritarian regime
2023.01.05 13:17
Japan calls for an end to authoritarian regime
Budrigannews.com – Free trade and economic interdependence after the Cold War, according to Japan’s trade and industry minister on Thursday, had bolstered authoritarian regimes and urged the United States and other democratic nations to counter them with a “new world order.”
“We must rebuild a world order based on the fundamental values of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law,” Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. “Authoritarian countries have amassed tremendous power, both economically and militarily.”
Nishimura spoke ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s trip to Washington next week for talks about Ukraine, North Korea, and China’s tensions with Taiwan. Talks between the two countries’ defense and foreign ministers will take place before that summit.
After Japan unveiled its largest military buildup since World War II last month, Kishida stated this week that he will discuss Tokyo’s new security policy in Washington.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is growing concern that Beijing and Moscow will use their power over energy resources and manufacturing supply chains to prevent the United States, Japan, Europe, and others from opposing their diplomatic and military goals, which is why Nishimura has issued a call to arms.
Nishimura stated that when leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized nations meet in the Japanese city of Hiroshima in May, they are likely to discuss how to respond to economic coercion.
He stated, “We might need to make preparations to identify the choke points of countries wanting to engage in coercion and then take countermeasures if necessary.” He was referring to the United States.
The Japanese minister issued a warning that democracies must guard against the loss of technologies, particularly those that could be used for military purposes, and preserve their industrial power.
He urged Japan and the United States to collaborate on biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and quantum science in addition to semiconductors.
He also said he would work more closely with Washington on export controls, but he didn’t say if Tokyo would follow the big ban on chip manufacturing equipment exports that Biden’s administration put in place in October.
After former President Donald Trump abandoned an earlier version of the pact in 2017, Nishimura advocated for the United States to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on trade.
In addition, he stated that Japan would work toward an “early conclusion” of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, which Biden launched in Tokyo in May as part of an effort to strengthen economic cooperation with 12 other nations in the region.
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