Speaking at Johns Hopkins on Jan. 13 just after his summit with President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio spoke of his plans for carrying forward the project that President Biden launched to reassert the hegemony of the “alliance of democracies.” After outlining his role in the reforms that will turn Japanese Defense Forces from a “shield” to a “spear,” Kishida indicated that he will also be conducting major diplomacy to counter China.
Japan will be hosting the G7 Summit this year and it will be held in, of all places, Hiroshima—which happens to be where Kishida’s family is from, and where his Diet district is. Kishida has already made it clear that he plans to use this as an opportunity to focus on Ukraine and the alleged danger of Russia using nuclear weapons. Hopefully, the Japanese Peace Movement has not become as lethargic, or as stupid, as the American peace movement, and will prepare their own protests against NATO and the G7’s war-mongering policies in Ukraine.
Kishida also said that Japan would be playing a greater role in mobilizing the countries of the Global South. He will be particularly focused on the ASEAN countries initially, working to build the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) framework. Kishida said: “I will be soon upgrading the vision of a FOIP. I will also host the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo around December this year. I hope to demonstrate that Japan’s ties with Southeast Asian countries constitute a core element of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, even in the face of the drastically changing international community.”
He also hopes to shape India’s chairmanship of the G20 through the collaborative “Japan-India Special Strategic Global Partnership.” And noting the global expansion of the Rising Sun, Kishida said “Japan will move forward with our diplomatic engagements with the regions of South Asia, Pacific Island countries, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central Asia and the Caucasus.”
He declared that Japan would work closely with Biden’s efforts to “reform” the UN Security Council. Japan will now start a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, but Kishida’s ambitions stretch much further than that, as do Global NATO’s. (https://japan.kantei.go.jp/101_kishida/statement/202301/_00005.html )
