#10 Tokyo Olympics – COVID-19 vaccine race – China’s coast guard law-Senkaku islands - Shortage in semiconductor supply and the automakers’ challenge.
Here is a brief on biweekly ( 15th Jan –31st Jan).
Japan is likely to extend its coronavirus state of emergency for another month in Tokyo, Osaka and a few other prefectures.
Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, called on Myanmar military to release Aung San Suu Kyi, and restore democracy.
Prime Minister Suga congratulated Biden on assuming the U.S. presidency, and both agreed to strengthen the alliance.
The shortage in supply of semiconductors is posing an unprecedented challenge to Japanese automakers like Honda, Nissan, Toyota, and Subaru.
POLITICS.
Japan’s parliament enacted a 19 trillion yen extra budget to ramp up coronavirus measures. The budget includes 4.36 trillion yen to provide financial support for restaurants and bars for having limited their working hours and helping hospitals to secure more beds for COVID-19 patients. And 1.03 trillion yen has been allocated to support the virus-hit domestic tourism sector. Furthermore, 2 trillion yen is committed to establish a fund for companies developing green technologies.
“With additional bond issuance worth 22.4 trillion yen, the supplementary budget will bring total government spending for the current fiscal year to a record-high 175.69 trillion yen. As a result, Japan's total new debt issuance for the year is set to hit an all-time high of over 112.55 trillion yen.”
However, the Suga’s government had refused to make any change with regard to the controversial “Go-To Travel” subsidy program package, amidst criticism from opposition lawmakers. The opposition party considers it as the government’s “non-urgent spending”, the money which could have otherwise been used to provide financial aid to people in need.
With the number of coronavirus cases rising rapidly, Japan is looking at extending the state of emergency for another month in Tokyo and other areas. As per government sources, extending the emergency will be inevitable in eight prefectures, namely Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, and Fukuoka, which are in stage 4. Stage 4 is the highest of the government’s four-point scale. Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of Japan's coronavirus response, said that the emergency extension will be decided based on discussions with health experts.
Tokyo Olympics & COVID-19 vaccines.
Japan is gearing up to hold the postponed 2020 Olympics and is looking forward to vaccinating its general public in May before the games commence. The progress of coronavirus vaccination will play a crucial role in holding the Tokyo Olympics. "I think in the next few months, we have to look at the progress we make (in distributing vaccines)," said Bill Gates, the co-founder of U.S. tech giant Microsoft Corp., in an interview with Kyodo News. “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has contributed $1.75 billion to support research, development, and delivery of COVID-19 treatments.” Meanwhile a Kyodo news poll revealed that 80 percent of respondents who are battling the resurgence of coronavirus feel the Tokyo Games should be canceled or rescheduled.
Japan’s government has signed contracts with pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, AstraZeneca PLC, and Moderna to procure supplies of vaccines to inoculate the entire population. Japan plans to procure primarily from Pfizer, whose clinical trials have been reported as 95% effective."We will be able to finally begin vaccinations now that a contract has been agreed," said Norihisa Tamura, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.
A Nikkei Asia article discusses why Japan is lagging in the vaccine rollout race, while many other countries have already started administering vaccines to their population. The delay in vaccinating the population comes as a result of a delay in finalizing the contract with Pfizer, a delay in holding clinic trials that only started last October, roughly half a year after clinical trials first started in other parts of the world. It is still not clear why Pfizer missed Japan for hosting clinical trials of its vaccine, and chose the U.S., Germany, Brazil, and South Africa. Recently Japan inked a contract with Pfizer, confirming it as its major vaccine distributor. AstraZeneca, which started clinical trials before Pfizer, is yet to receive approval which poses uncertainty over the timeline for vaccine shipment. Moderna is about to start its clinical trials for its vaccine. While Japan plans to vaccinate its health care workers and elderly population in the first batch, a complete timeline for vaccination is yet to be made. Speaking on this Taro Kono, Japan's minister in charge of vaccine distribution said, "At this point, we do not have a detailed schedule regarding the vaccine supply,". European Union is looking at removing Japan from the list of approved places of departure, as Japan grapples with the highest surge in infections since the onset of the pandemic.
DEFENSE.
The recently passed Chinese bill entrusts the coast guards with the power to use weapons when foreign ships involved in illegal activities fail to obey orders in the waters claimed by China. The bill is sure to escalate the confrontation with the Japanese government over the disputed Senkaku islands, as the legislation could target Japanese vessels navigating around the islands. China claims sovereignty over the Senkaku islands, currently administered by Tokyo in the East China Sea.
A secret agreement devised in 2015 between the Ground Self-Defense Force(GSDF) and the U.S. Marine Corps stationed the GSDF amphibious unit in Camp Schwab in the Henoko district of Okinawa prefecture without approval from Japan’s Defense Ministry came to light, prompting criticism from the ministry that the GSDF acted against the principle of civilian control.
DIPLOMACY.
In the recent telephone conversation after Antony Blinken won Senate confirmation as the U.S. Secretary of State, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi agreed with Blinken on strengthening the US-Japan alliance,and achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific with coordination involving Japan, the United States, Australia, and India. Their other discussion topics were: to reach a consensus over a cost-sharing agreement for hosting American troops in Japan, resolution of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese nationals, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and other global issues. As per government sources, Toshimitsu Motegi plans to visit the United States in mid-February seeking to strengthen the alliance, amidst the rising power of China.
Suga spoke to Biden to congratulate him on assuming the Presidency. The overview of the telephone talk between Suga and Biden is as below:
The two leaders agreed to strengthen the Japan-U.S. Alliance. Biden reiterated the “unwavering commitment” of the United States in protecting the Japan-administered Senkaku islands.
The leaders agreed to step up defense cooperation of the QUAD members amidst China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. They also shared the common goal of realization of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.
They agreed to work towards the denuclearization of North Korea following the U.N. Security Council’s resolution.
Suga welcomed Biden’s decision to rejoin the Paris Agreement, while Biden invited Suga to participate in a summit on climate change scheduled to be held in April.
China criticized the leaders of the United States and Japan for having confirmed that Senkaku islands falls within the purview of the bilateral security treaty. China considers the Senkakus as “China’s inherent territory.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, "The U.S.-Japan Security Treaty is a product of the Cold War. It should not harm the interests of third parties and endanger regional peace and stability. Exchanges between relevant countries should be conducive to mutual trust among nations in the region and to regional peace, stability, and prosperity.”
Japan joined the United States and the European Union in urging Moscow to release opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who had been detained by police. Toshimitsu Motegi, the Foreign Minister, expressed concerns over the arrest of Alexei Navalny and other peaceful protesters and asked for them to be released. Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was poisoned in a suspected nerve agent attack. After his treatment in Germany, he returned to Moscow when he was detained by the police.
Semiconductor shortage & automaker’s challenge.
A global shortage of automotive and nonautomotive chips is also accompanied by the rising demand for smartphones and 5G network equipment. As the global automotive industry is paving way to produce more autonomous and electric vehicles, it is predicted that chip crunch will only get even worse. The list of automotive companies that are planning to scale down or halt production because of this are Honda Motor Co., Subaru Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., and Nissan Motor Co. This is why Japan had recently requested Taiwan to increase the production of semiconductors. "In coordination with the auto industry, the Japanese government is requesting Taiwan authorities to work for an increase in (semiconductor) output through the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association," said Hiroshi Kajiyama, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry. A news article in Reuters discusses that the global shortage of semiconductors is due to inadequate global investment into chip manufacturing and production slowdowns due to pandemic.
TECHNOLOGY.
The data fetched by the Tokyo customs showed a drastic increase in the amount of liquid marijuana that was confiscated in 2020. It had jumped nearly 70 times against previous years' data. The Finance Ministry of Japan has come up with a program that introduces artificial intelligence and other cutting edge technologies to help customs to stop drug smuggling. As per the Finance ministry, the program aims to establish the world’s most advanced inspection capabilities.