[etc.]Genron NPO Conference on Asia Strategy Symposium 2 ―The Revitalization of Japan through Opening Up―

How Should Japan Establish Relationships with Asian Countries?

Taichi Sakaiya: Author, Economist

Born in 1935. He has been the Special Adviser to The Prime Minister since 2000. He joined the ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), and directed the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka, 1975 Okinawa International Ocean Exposition. After leaving MITI to concentrate on writing and lecturing, he worked as the chairman of the Event and Project Committee for the Osaka 21st Century Plan, the president of the Asian Club Foundation, the member of the committee for Ten Year Support for Regions Stricken by Hanshin Awaji, Kobe Earthquake, and the Appointed Minister of State for Economic Planning. Graduated from the Faculty of Economics, Tokyo University. His published works include "Chika Kakumei (The Knowledge Value Revolution)" and "Toudai Kougiroku (The Lectures at University of Tokyo)" etc.

Kang, Bong-Kyun: Member of National Assembly The Republic of Korea

Kang, Bong-Kyun is a Member of National Assembly The Republic of Korea. He has held the posts of Minister of Finance and Economy, President of the Korea Development Institute (KDI). He has also served as Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Affairs and Policy Planning, and thus has been closely involved in Korea's economic reforms since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from Hanyang University, Korea, and an MA in Development Economics from Williams College, Massachusetts, US.

Sopiee Noordin: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia

Sopiee Noordin started his career as a lead writer at the New Straits Times Press where he became Group Managing Editor (1981) and Chief Executive of New Fleetprint Press- London. In 1984, he joined the Institute of Strategic Studies (I.S.I.S) as Director-General. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank and the National Economic Action Council (NEAC). He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (1967-1972) where he obtained a Ph.D. in Political Science/ International Relations.

Du Ping: Director-General, The Department of Spatial Planning and Regional Economy of The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China

Mr. DU PING was born in August 30, 1956 and titled with president and professor. From August of 1982 as a civil servant in The Department of Spatial Planning and Regional Economy of The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and as a director responsible for spatial planning, regional economy development and environment management successively. From August of 1998 up to now as a director-general in The Institute of Spatial Planning and Regional Economy of NDRC for making research-work in the fields of spatial development, sustainable development and regional economy including Chinese western development and cross-national or sub-regional economic co-operation with a lot of study-reports and articles or books. In his long-term duty he has been known as a strategist and policy-designer.

Yukiko Fukagawa: Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo

She also works as a faculty fellow of the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI). She has specialized into East Asian economic development and published "Kankoku senshinkoku keizairon("Korea's economic development: a micro analysis on the maturity process") , "Chugoku no WTO kamei to NiChuKan boueki no mirai"("China's membership in the WTO and the future of Japan-China-Korea trade"). She received her B.A. in Economics from Waseda University, M.A. in International Economics from Yale University and finished PhD in Business History from Waseda University.

Tomohiko Taniguchi: Chief Senior Writer of “Nikkei Business”, a weekly magazine.

Tomohiko Taniguchi is the Chief Senior Writer of “Nikkei Business,” a Tokyo, Japan based weekly magazine. Formerly the magazine's London bureau chief, he was President of The Foreign Press Association in London (1999-2000, the first from Asia including Japan in its 111-year history). His English publications include “Japan’s Banks and the ‘Bubble Economy’ of the Late 1980s,” and the articles that appeared in "Central Banking" and "insight Japan". He was a Fulbright visiting fellow at the Center of International Studies, Princeton University (1991-92). He received BA in Law from University of Tokyo.

Jesper Koll: Managing Director Chief Economist Japan Research Department of Merrill Lynch Japan Securities

Before becoming the Chief Economist for Merrill Lynch in 1999 he was a Managing Director of Tiger Management L.L.C. and he was the Chief Economistand Head of Economic and Market Research for J.P. Morgan in Tokyo. He has been serving on several Japanese government advisory councils, including the MITI committee on "Big Bang 2001" Japan's financial system reform." Currently, he serves as a member ofthe MoF task force on global capital flows. Jesper Koll holds a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University, SAISand graduated fromthe Lester B Pearson College of the Pacific in 1980. He has published manyarticles in Japanese, English and European publications as well as one book,"Towards a New Japanese Golden Age." He has been living in Japan since 1986and is a German national.

Ryosei Kokubun: Professor, Faculty of Law and Politics, Director of Center for Area Studies, Keio University

Ryosei Kokubun was born in 1953. After working as an assistant professor and associate professor of Keio University since 1981, he became a professor of Keio University in 1992. He has also been the director of Center for Asia Studies, Keio University. He studied and graduated from Keio University (BA, MA, Ph.D.). His major publications include "People's Republic of China," "Examination of the Asian Era: From China's View," "Documentary History of Contemporary China: Politics (eds.)," and "Challenges for China-Japan-US Cooperation (ed.)."

The Revitalization of Japan through Opening Up

What was discussed in this session was how to establish relationships between Japan and Asia. The first task would be to sort out our common views concerning the dynamic phenomenon in Asia centered around the axis of rising China. Next, we needed to ask ourselves, what could Japan do? In other words, we wanted to shed light on the tasks that Japan is required to do. Not only Asian countries, but the whole world faces a growing Chinese economy. Compared to such drastic changes in Asia, the process of reform and economic revitalization in Japan is still trailing behind.

Considering the present situation of Japan, we do not have the luxury of taking too much time. Therefore, we have no other way but to make use of the vigor of Asian countries. It is true that the slogan “reform and opening” was voiced loudly in China, but in reality they could not accomplish reform. Instead, they achieved reform through “opening” the country. Japan, too, must survive the changes in Asia and in the world through opening the country. Unless something is done, the world’s second largest economy might be led to self-destruction while no one notices. There is no other way but to open Japan in a real sense to find its relative position in Asia and in the world.

The theme we first took up for discussion was the threat of China being a gaining economic power. A panelist made a rather bold statement, saying “Those who do not feel threatened by China had better go to a mental clinic.” The degree of “threat” felt by Japan, Korea, and South-East Asia is somewhat different. Although Korea feels a potential threat, they try to minimize the threat by differentiating themselves and by strengthening the advantageous areas in which they have relative superiority at the moment. Southeast Asian countries have many areas where they must compete with China and they feel the most threatened. Under such circumstances, what China and ASEAN countries have chosen is an FTA, and this indicates that there is no other way but to cooperate to survive.

On the contrary, the public sense of crisis in Japan is that we might lose everything we have strived for. It is therefore inevitable that many people comment on the seriousness of the issues stemming from domestic factors. Those perception gaps have been made clear by the statements of panelists from Asian countries. The important issue in the end is what the role of Japan in Asia is. In the actual discussion some stated that Japan was being asked to commit itself to a miracle for Asia not a miracle for Japan. Behind such statements lies a perception that the economic power of Japan has not contributed fully to Asia, and the Japanese people are feeling pity for themselves to see themselves fall. To be more specific, the fact that the strategies of Japan as a whole are hardly discernible to the world is causing the relative decline in Japan’s overall role and status.

For example, the 10 ASEAN countries are in different economic development stages and the risk of widening disparities is high when they pursue cooperation with China. We have already heard some discord among them. When I go to China, I perceive that the growing number of Chinese is demanding more cooperation and economic support for the regional development in inland China. China itself is saddled with many unsolved problems, and the fact of the matter is that the current economic development relies heavily on foreign capital. In other words, each Asian country has unstable factors.

Japan should not pity itself in such situation; instead, it has to seek what role it can play for Asia and how it can contribute to the overall equality and establishment of the system of division of labor. It seems that Japan should exercise its leadership in that respect. Japan must have a conceptual channel or scenario that the leadership in Asia would lead to the revival of Japan itself. To my regret, present day Japan is rather isolated and appears to be lagging behind other Asian countries. It may sound harsh, but Japan is now to decide whether to take action now or to give up because it will be too late if nothing is done. Everything depends on whether Japan is able to transform what is discussed into action.

Another big issue is the North Korean crisis. Due to time constraints, the discussion was not enough at the session. In any case, Japan has to decide on what to do concerning the North Korean crisis soon or later. At the same time, how Japan should be involved in the future of the Korean Peninsula would become a crucial issue depending on how the Korean Peninsula would come about.

Actions that North Korea takes are quite accidental, and the purpose of these actions is to maintain its system. We must avoid being led astray by such contingent actions and losing the bird’s eye view. The first prerequisite that we need to bear in mind is how to solve problems in a peaceful manner by taking the whole Korean Peninsula into perspective. In this regard, it is necessary to emphasize that China pays special attention to South Korea in effect on the issue of the Northeast Asian Economic Zone including Japan, China and South Korea. There is an influence of top-level meetings between North and South Korea as a background. North Korea has been isolated since the meetings, and China has started to distance itself from the north due to problems arising from defectors from North Korea and development of nuclear weapons.

In this sense, the concept of a Northeast Asian Economic Zone can be considered as a part of the issues concerning stabilization of the Korean Peninsula; however, no such strategic concept has been developed yet.

Reviewer: Ryosei Kokubun