RAMESH JAURA Talks to Former Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu
At the age of 79, Toshiki Kaifu, former Prime Minister of Japan, continues to enjoy respect at home and abroad for his political acumen and humane approach to life and politics.
In an interview with IDN-InDepthNews, he looks back with satisfaction and pride at some of the firsts in his active political life, views with great circumspection the present, and advises caution when policies impacting the future are on the anvil.
Kaifu started his political career in 1960, when he successfully ran for the Lower House of the Japanese bicameral legislature (Diet) as the youngest candidate. Five years later he founded the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV). Since its inception, 33,541 volunteers have been dispatched to 83 countries in Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Pacific regions, East Europe.
Speaking to IDN after attending an international conference end of November in Rome on women's role in development in the developing world, Kaifu said: "I recognised anew that Japan’s approach which put recipient needs first and was designed to support recipient country’s self-help efforts through financial and technical assistance through JOCV has been right. In fact today it is needed even more considering the current acute situation surrounding women in African countries against the backdrop of the global economic crisis."
Japan has dispatched volunteers to Tanzania, Ghana, Egypt and Congo -- though JOCV activities had to be suspended in Congo due to a deteriorating domestic situation -- during last 45 years. The founder of JOVC is "proud of the fact that Japan has never had any political ambition behind this goodwill cooperation with African countries".
But why no 'political ambition'?
Kaifu explained that because of "historical experiences" that cast their shadows on relations with its neighbouring East and South East Asian countries, Japan had extended enormous support since 1956. But the memories of Japan’s invasion and occupation during the Second World War (which Japan entered 1941) remain alive in the minds of a section of the society in those countries. As a result, Japan’s support to those countries was subject to several interpretations.
"But there is no such complexity with regard to the African continent. Therefore, Japan could start extending goodwill support to the African continent without getting embroiled in the cobweb of those complexities and I believe that Japan’s assistance has been well received by African countries with our good will free from political intentions," said former Prime Minister Kaifu.
Giving an example, he said, due to painful memories deriving from WWII in both countries, Japan initially refrained from offering to dispatch JOCV volunteers to China -- until the point when the Chinese government conveyed that it would very much welcome JOCV once principles on mutual cooperation are agreed and requested for JOCV dispatch. Thus the first JOCV dispatch was realised some twenty years ago.
Excerpts from a one-hour long interview:
IDN: Is Japan doing enough for Africa?
Kaifu: I think so. Over the years, Japan’s assistance to Africa has expanded. I presume that African countries have appreciated Japan’s contributions. Japan enjoys good relations with African countries on the whole.
IDN: Africa has some of the largest, and richest, mineral deposits in the world. I suppose Japan is as much interested in these as China. Isn't there a rivalry, of sorts, between Japan and China to secure those minerals in Africa?
Kaifu: Many countries may be watching Japan and China and may have their own interpretations or speculations of Japan's and China's activities in Africa. They can interpret whatever way they like. It is up to them. However, I am of the view that it is wrong to take advantage of economic assistance to gain access to natural resources in competition with other nations. As far as Japan is concerned, we have nurtured mutual relationships with African countries based on development assistance without any political implications. In other words, our accumulated effort through economic assistance to Africa has been based on Japanese people’s goodwill and our wish that recipient countries would recognize our goodwill through our assistance geared towards their needs. I firmly believe that Japan’s sincere approach to African countries through development cooperation to this day has been duly appreciated by those African countries.
IDN: How are the Japan-China relations now that Japan has a new administration?
Kaifu: Since the new administration in Japan is headed by a party other than mine, I may not be able to get to a point. Having said that what concerns me is that the new administration led by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has announced a so-called “East Asia oriented policyö. Yukio Hatoyama in his inaugural speech gave the impression that Japan has been too close to the U.S. in the past and that his administration would attach more importance to the relationship with Asia.
This has not caused much concern in Japan but the problem is that it has been received by the U.S. with great concern. It caused some U.S. policy analysts wonder whether the new Prime Minister is intending to restructure traditional relationship with the U.S. In fact, my friends in the U.S. State Department and other information sources in the U.S. contacted me to share those concerns. Subsequently, I advised the Prime Minister through a third person to take into consideration those concerns arising in the U.S. Since then I have seen Prime Minister Hatoyama making some adjustments.
This reminds me of my own experience 20 years ago, how sensitive the U.S. is when it comes to Japan’s proximity with Asia without the U.S. It was when I was going to meet with then Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir bin Mohamad. Mahathir had just announced the EAEC. Interestingly enough, it was not China which responded to this announcement but it was the U.S. which dispatched James Danforth Quayle, the then vice president to Japan and requested me not to agree to EAEC when I would have a summit meeting with Mahathir. I told Mr. Quayle not to worry and that I had no intention to exclude the U.S. and that I would handle this with utmost care so that it would not be EAEG (East Asia Economic Group excluding the U.S.) but it would be just EAEC (East Asia Economic Caucus). I asked him to tell President Bush senior to let me handle the matter in our own way. I also reminded him that Japan has been often criticised for lack of diplomacy in view of the presence of the U.S. in our country. If the U.S. government makes such noises about the EAEC, all my independent diplomatic effort based on trusted relationship with the U.S. would be projected as another example of Japan lacking its own diplomacy.
It is in this context that the concern shared by the U.S. on Prime Minister Hatoyama’s remarks about putting Asia-first reminded me of my own experience 20 years ago.
IDN: You dealt with Bush senior 20 years ago as Prime Minister of Japan (from August 1989 to November 1991). Now what do you think of the Obama administration?
Kaifu: President Obama has been advocating changes. In my view, he is good at not only rhetoric: he has also been successfully bringing about a paradigm shift away from his predecessor, Gorge W. Bush Jr., who was characterised as a neoconservative focussed on unilateralism and as a staunch advocate of pre-emptive strikes in foreign policy. In my view, the Obama administration has been trying to restrain itself in whatever the predecessor did.
IDN: Do you think that Barack Obama deserves Nobel peace prize?
Kaifu: I think that it was not given as an expectation for what he might really do in the future but for what he has stated in his eloquent speeches. In this regard, the decision was not profound. I hope that the U.S. President would exert himself to deserve the prize in retrospect. Certainly, Obama is very good at his speeches. When he spoke to the Japanese Diet, he talked about his past visit to the ancient city of Kamakura which is famous for great Buddha as a symbol of peace. He said that he did not remember well about the great Buddha but remembered well a tasty green-tea flavoured ice cream he had there. While many Japanese Diet members clapped hands praising that Obama has deep understanding of Japanese culture, being a Buddhist myself, I wished that he had remarked about the great Buddha instead of green-flavoured ice cream. After all this is much to do with our inner spirituality closely intertwined with our culture. Having said that I really wish that Obama would live up to what he has said.
IDN: It is known that you have been in close contact with every Chinese ambassador to Tokyo. What did you talk about when he visited you last time?
Kaifu: Every time the Chinese government dispatches a new ambassador, they make sure that those ambassadors are fluent in Japanese. Successive ambassadors have visited me on many occasions, particularly Ambassador Wang Yi (2004-2007) frequently visited me and we discussed many issues. Regarding the Obama administration, the (current Chinese) ambassador told me that the Chinese government has been carefully observing newly evolving situation under Obama's leadership and that they welcome the overall direction. - Global Perspectives
This interview was transcripted by IDN Asia-Pacific Bureau in Tokyo and translated from Japanese by IPS Japan, IDN's cooperation partner. |
