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 Japan Brief |
| 【Japan Brief】Prime Minister Hatoyama Engages in Summit Diplomacy at UN |
Japan Brief/FPCJ, No. 0961
October 2, 2009
Prime Minister Hatoyama Engages in Summit Diplomacy at UN
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who visited the United States from September 21 to attend a series of international meetings centered on the United Nations, returned to Japan on September 27 after completing a full schedule. During his stay in the United States, Prime Minister Hatoyama delivered speeches at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change, the UN Security Council Summit on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Nuclear Disarmament, the General Assembly of the United Nations, and the Group of 20 Summit held in Pittsburg. The series of meetings provided Prime Minister Hatoyama with an excellent diplomatic stage from which to convey the basic policies of the Japanese government on various serious issues facing the international community.
In parallel with the international meetings, Prime Minister Hatoyama also held bilateral talks with the leaders of the United States, China, South Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Australia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Coming just ten days after the inauguration of his new government on September 16, the visit was a valuable opportunity for Prime Minister Hatoyama to build personal relations of trust with the leaders of other countries.
Media Appraisal of Japan-China Summit
As well as the Japan-US bilateral summit (see Japan Brief No. 0957, “Prime Minister Hatoyama Holds First Talks with US President Obama”), the Japanese media showed special interest in Prime Minister Hatoyama’s meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
According to the Asahi Shimbun (September 23), in the Japan-China summit on September 21 Prime Minister Hatoyama explained that “the ‘diplomacy of fraternity’ is an approach that enables us to overcome the differences in our positions.” He also confirmed that his government would follow the statement made by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama in 1995 that expressed remorse and apology for Japan's colonial rule and military aggression in the past. President Hu replied, “I commend the prime minister for showing a clear position on the problem of history.”
Also as reported by the Asahi, Prime Minister Hatoyama said that the East China Sea “should change from a sea of quarrels to a sea of fraternity” and explained his pet theory of aiming to build an East Asian community through, among other things, the joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea. Prime Minister Hatoyama went on to note that although Japan and China had reached agreement on joint gas field development, work on the conclusion of a treaty in order to put that agreement into practice had stalled. President Hu reportedly replied that he would give instructions for working-level contact between his government and the Japanese side in the near future.
On September 23 the major newspapers carried editorials on the Japan-China summit. Considerable differences could be seen in their appraisal of the meeting’s outcome.
The Yomiuri Shimbun editorial commented, “. . . there has been a fierce tug-of-war between Japan and China regarding the framework of the East Asian community. The prime minister will sooner or later be asked his views on the shape of the envisioned community.” Regarding gas field development, noting that “during the summer, China took actions that could be seen as preparations to independently develop the gas field,” the Yomiuri concluded, “We hope . . . [Prime Minister Hatoyama] will keep in mind that diplomatic problems cannot be resolved by fraternity alone but also must involve the grim realities of conflicting national interests.”
In contrast, the Asahi editorial commented, “Hatoyama explained his political philosophy of yuai, a concept similar to ‘fraternity,’ to Hu during their summit, and stressed his resolve to build a strong bilateral relationship of mutual trust. Hatoyama also outlined his vision of an East Asian community, and told Hu of his intention to work on this concept over the long term.” It added on a positive note, “There is no question that . . . there will be major changes in regional geopolitics in the days ahead. . . . [We] applaud Hatoyama for positioning Japan-China relations in the bigger, long-term picture of strengthening regional collaboration.”
Media Appraisal of the Japan-Russia Summit
According to the September 24 evening edition of the Mainichi Shimbun, in bilateral talks with Russian President Medvedev on September 23, Prime Minister Hatoyama mentioned with regard to the problem of the Northern Territories that his grandfather, the late Ichiro Hatoyama, who was then prime minister, had signed the Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration in 1956. “I look forward to the president’s leadership so that we can settle this problem once and for all in our generation and a peace treaty can be concluded,” Prime Minister Hatoyama said. President Medvedev replied, “I want to conduct peace treaty negotiations even more energetically. I will make efforts to find new ways to solve the territorial problem and other issues.” The two leaders reportedly agreed to speed up negotiations.
Also as reported by the Mainichi, President Medvedev commented that “I think it is possible to politically settle past legacies” and “Both sides should respond by moving away from extreme positions,” and he called for a solution to be found based on the Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration, which clearly stipulates the return of Habomai and Shikotan (two of the four islands in dispute) to Japan. In reply, Prime Minister Hatoyama reportedly asked, “What does ‘extreme position’ mean? It is necessary for us to continue discussing this problem.”
In a commentary article on September 24, the Yomiuri observed, “Regarding the Northern Territories issue, President Medvedev said that Russia was ready to demonstrate an ‘original approach.’ But that is a phrase the president used frequently in talks with former Prime Minister Taro Aso. This time again, he did not reveal the specific content of this approach.” It went on, “A problem like the territorial issue, which involves national sovereignty, is not one that can be hastily settled just because of a government change. The prime minister should tackle this problem carefully without being bound by his own statements.”
Media Appraisal of “Hatoyama Diplomacy”
A political column in the Mainichi (September 26) stated, “Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama seems to have made a very fine diplomatic debut. Even former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who was the first Japanese leader to engage in full-fledged bilateral summit diplomacy, is full of praise.” It quoted Nakasone as saying, “Soon after his appointment he [Prime Minister Hatoyama] seized a golden opportunity and was able to convey to the world his basic thinking about environmental problems and the elimination of nuclear weapons.”
The Mainichi editorial on September 28 gave a positive appraisal of “Hatoyama diplomacy,” remarking, “Certainly the road map for realizing the new axis of Japanese diplomacy that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama conveyed in the series of bilateral summits in the United States has not yet been specifically drawn. But the fruit of ‘Hatoyama diplomacy’ can be said to be the fact that it strongly showed the international community that a change is taking place in Japan as a result of the shift in government.” It concluded with the following words for the prime minister: “The problem is how to turn words into action. That is what the international community is watching, too. From now on, as the top leader of the coalition government, the prime minister’s ability to coordinate and lead in realpolitik are going to be questioned.”
(Copyright 2009 Foreign Press Center, Japan)
*Japan Brief is an original production of the Foreign Press Center, Japan, and does not represent the views of the Government of Japan or of any other body.
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