Greetings,
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ITO Kenichi
President, CEAC
"CEAC Commentary"
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"CEAC Commentary" presents views of members and friends of CEAC on an East Asian Community and other related international affairs. The view expressed herein is the author's own and should not be attributed to CEAC.
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Diplomatic Bluebook and South Korea's Protest
By SAKURADA Jun
Professor, Toyo Gakuen University
According to an April 6 (Friday) article posted on Yomiuri Online, in protest against Japanese Foreign Minister GEMBA Koichiro's introduction of the fiscal 2012 Diplomatic Bluebook's description of the disputed Takeshima islands ("known as Dokdo in South Korea") as Japanese territory in a cabinet meeting on the day, South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced on the same day its spokesman's statement declaring, "We deeply deplore Japan's unjustified claim. We will never approve any attempt against our territorial sovereignty."
The statement also pointed out that if Japan claimed its sovereignty over the Dokdo islands on the basis of mistaken historical views, "future-oriented South Korea-Japan relations" would just end up as an empty slogan, strongly criticizing that Japan would not be able to fulfill responsible roles in the international community. The article also adds that the bluebook declares that the islands are undoubtedly within territory that is an inherent part of Japan both in reference to historical facts and in agreement with international law and that the Japanese government will continue its tough negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the dispute.
These responses from South Korea are quite the same as ever before. However, whatever way South Korea may respond, Japan's stance on its territorial sovereignty over the islands, the name of the Sea of Japan and the related historical views will never change and also must not change. Considering these circumstances, the dispute will persist for a long time as a chronic affliction between the two countries. Just as a "delicate and fragile" person can sometimes result in long life by striving to stay in good health, consistent keen recognition of the affliction will work well to prevent inertial and cozy relationships between Japan and South Korea from being formed. This is not a negative thing at all in itself.
South Korea used to be just a minor country to Japan both politically and economically in the past. In that situation, Japan looked down at South Korea "from above" and therefore treated the country as if it were soothing a "crying baby." That was the way Japan reacted to South Korea when the two countries faced frictions involving different historical views and territorial disputes. Probably, this is why Japan's "reflection" does not look as such from the South Korean perspective. However, this is no longer the time for continuing such relationships. Now that South Korea has grown into a country with a level of power that it deserves, it is time for Japan to push for its own national interests without any hesitation from now onward.
It is just like boxing with a grown-up contender for real, ending the approach of going easy on a child. The author has no concrete grounds to judge if South Korea will be able to stand that "real boxing fight." Japan has continued to play the game of international politics, including its relationship with South Korea, for more than half a decade with one hand tied up in terms of constitutional restraints, diplomatic personnel and budgets. If Japan is set free from these shackles, it will be pretty "interesting." South Korea has never experienced diplomacy with Japan as an "ordinary country."
The NODA Yoshihiko Cabinet has made "no serious mistake" at the diplomatic front so far. The diplomatic mistake during the HATOYAMA Yukio administration was so serious that the NODA Cabinet's "ordinary diplomacy" may just seem more refreshing. The relaxation of the Three Principles on Arms Exports was a very good job. If the Liberal Democratic Party comes back in power, it will remove the aforementioned "shackles" one after another. The author has proposed that some people related to the LDP make prompt preparations for that.
(This is the English translation of an article which originally appeared on the BBS "Hyakka-Somei" of CEAC on 1 June, 2012, and was posted on "CEAC Commentary" on 28 June, 2012.)
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For more views and opinions in the backnumber of "CEAC Commentary," the latest of which are as follows, please refer to:
http://www.ceac.jp/e/commentary/backnumber.html
No.74 A Misunderstanding on North Korean issue
by SUZUKI Keisuke, former Member of the House of Representatives
(27 April 2012)
No.73 President Vaclav Havel as a Symbol of Good and Kim Jong-il as a Synonym for Evil
by IRIYAMA Akira, Visiting Professor at Cyber University, and Executive Research Advisor of the International Development Center of Japan
(14 February 2012)
No.72 Declare the Japan's Vision on the Asia-Pacific Liberalization
by YAMAZAWA Ippei, Professor Emeritus of Hitotsubashi University
(19 December 2011)
No.71 Prime Minister Noda's Negativism toward an "East Asian Community" Contradicts the National Interest of Japan
by KIKUCHI Yona, Research Fellow of JFIR
(19 October 2011)
No.70 Rejuvenate EAS as the Asian Version of OSCE
by YAMASHITA Eiji, Professor Emeritus of Osaka City University
(31 August 2011)
"CEAC Updates"
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"CEAC Updates" introduces to you latest events, announcements and/or publications of CEAC.
Event
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CEAC plans to start a Working Group (WG) of the Network of East Asian Think-tanks (NEAT) on "Regional Cooperation on Disaster Management in East Asia."
The 10th Annual Conference (AC) of the NEAT is scheduled to be held in August 2012 in Beijing. Each Country Coordinator of NEAT can organize a WG in preparation for this AC. NEAT Japan continues to sponsor the WG on "Regional Cooperation on Disaster Management in East Asia," which started last year. The outcome of this WG will be reported to the 10th AC.
For more, please refer to:
http://www.ceac.jp/e/neat.html
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