#23 Quad leaders Summit, Taiwan stance, Taliban talks, Trilateral meeting, Japan-Vietnam defence deal, new digital agency, KDDI-SpaceX partnership, World expo & Japan pavilion.
Here is a brief on the biweekly( 1st- 15th, Sep.).
Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, Yoshihide Suga and Scott Morrison will attend the first in-person Quad meeting.
China to closely watch Japan’s stance on Taiwan under a new leader
The top officials of Japan, South Korea and the US held talks in Tokyo over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions
Japan inked a defence agreement with Vietnam
KDDI teams with SpaceX to provide better mobile connectivity in rural Japan
Foreign Affairs.
Quad leaders Summit: The first in-person Quad Summit will happen on 24th Sep., at the White House in Washington. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US president Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will participate in the Quad meet. The leaders will mainly review the Quad Vaccine Initiative, by which 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines will be manufactured in India to be distributed in Asia by the end of 2022. The Ministry of External Affairs said, “the leaders will also exchange views on contemporary global issues such as critical and emerging technologies, connectivity and infrastructure, cyber security, maritime security, humanitarian assistance/ disaster relief, climate change and education”. While the White House statement referred to discussions around “promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
A close watch on Japan’s stance on Taiwan: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga plans to resign this month after a continuous decline in approval ratings. It is expected that China will closely observe if there will be a transition in Japan’s stance on Taiwan under a new leader. Chinese officials have been disappointed with Suga’s not so pro Chinese attitude. Suga wanted to build closer relationships with the US under his prime ministership. In the US-Japan joint statement, the two nations’ leaders had affirmed “ the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”, which infuriated China. Suga also raised concerns about Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and Uighur issue in the Xinjiang region.
On the other side, the US has been worried about Suga’s resignation, which might hamper the bilateral relationship. The US had described the Japan-US relationship as “ironclad”. Speaking on Suga’s resignation, a White House spokesperson said, “President Joe Biden is grateful for Prime Minister Suga's leadership and partnership on the shared challenges we face in the Indo-Pacific and the world, including COVID-19, climate change, North Korea, China, and preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We wish Prime Minister Suga well for the future. The U.S.-Japan alliance is and will remain ironclad, not just between our governments, but our people ".
Japan prepares to talk with the Taliban: The Japanese Foreign Ministry announced that it had established a temporary office in Doha, Afghanistan, for enabling dialogue with the Taliban to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals who have chosen to remain in the country and also of those who want to leave the country. Accordingly, Japan has temporarily closed its embassy in Kabul. According to the ministry, Takashi Okada, Japanese ambassador to Afghanistan, will head the office in Doha.
Japan warns Southeast Asian Nations of a possible attack: Japan’s Foreign Ministry had issued a warning to its citizens in six Southeast Asian Nations, including Philipines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar, of a possible risk of an attack such as suicide bombing. However, Japan had refused to disclose the source of information. At the same time, the concerned nations were bewildered as they had received no such information.
Defence.
Queen Elizabeth’s first port visit to Japan as the cornerstone of the Indo-Pacific dispatch: The British aircraft carrier, Queen Elizabeth, set its journey from London to showcase its increasing engagement and defence cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Queen Elizabeth, joined by the Dutch frigate and a US destroyer, has been involving in joint naval exercises with Japanese Self-Defence Forces. Speaking on the British aircraft carrier’s first port visit in Japan, the commander of the strike group Commodore Steve Moorhouse said, “the deployment to Japan is a demonstration of the U.K.'s commitment to investing in our partnership with Japan". He mentioned their plan to first visit Japan as the "cornerstone" of their dispatch to the Indo-Pacific region. While Julia Longbottom, the British ambassador to Japan, said, “ This will allow us to pursue increasingly complex and meaningful U.K.-Japan cooperation to contribute to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond”.
A trilateral meeting: North Korea intensifies its missile agenda by recently test-launching two ballistic missiles off its east coast. The new missile can hit a target 1,500 kilometres away, which includes the archipelago of Japan. Japan, South Korea and the US held talks in Tokyo to end the standoff with North Korea over its nuclear developments. Takehiro Funakoshi, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, said, "Our cooperation becomes all the more important as North Korea advances furthermore in its nuclear and missile development." While the US envoy for North Korea Sung Kim said, “ the US has no hostile intent towards the DPRK, we hope that DPRK will respond positively to our multiple offers to meet without preconditions”.
DPRK is the initial of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is the official name of North Korea.
Japan inks defence deal with Vietnam: Japan inked a defence agreement with Vietnam by which it can provide Vietnam with defence equipment and technology. The agreement was signed in Hanoi when the Japanese Defence Minister visited Vietnam during his first overseas trip since he assumed the post last year. As a result, Vietnam has become 11th on the list of countries Japan has signed defence equipment and technology transfer deal. The other countries include the US, Britain, Australia, Philippines and Indonesia. Speaking about the agreement, Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said, “the accord will strengthen Japan’s defence industrial base and is expected to contribute to the country’s security”.
“Japan's Defence Ministry said in a statement that Kishi and Giang agreed on the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as cooperation in various defence areas including cybersecurity”.
Japan suspects Chinese submarines near its territorial waters: Japan’s Defence Ministry had announced that its navy had identified submerged vessels and a Chinese destroyer near its southern islands. The ships were spotted outside its territorial waters near Amami Oshima island, Kagoshima prefecture.
Technology.
Japan launches a new digital agency to speed up digitalisation: The Japanese government set up a digital agency to accelerate the digitalisation of local and central government services. Takuya Hirai became the Digitalization minister of the agency, which Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will head. "Digitalization is a driving force for creating a new society," said Yoko Ishikura, honorary professor of Hitotsubashi University, who is also a bureaucrat and digital supervisor of the new agency. "I hope this will be an occasion for drastically changing Japan's position in the world. "The Suga government assumed office with a high focus on digitising administrative reforms. The importance to achieve digital inclusion was felt widely as the country was speeding up its efforts towards economic recovery from the pandemic-hit state.
KDDI joined hands with SpaceX: The Japanese telecommunications service provider will be working with Space Exploration Technologies Corp., an American company founded by Elon Musk to provide high-speed, low latency broadband internet. The project targets delivering urban-level mobile connectivity to rural customers using SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. “According to KDDI, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has issued an experimental license to operate the ground station for Starlink service installed at KDDI's Yamaguchi Satellite Communication Center in western Japan.”
Titbit.
Japan Pavilion at the World Expo: The pandemic caused a delay in conducting the Expo 2020, the world expo, for about a year. The Expo 2020 will start from 1st, Oct. 2021 until 31st, Mar. 2022 in Dubai. It is titled "Connecting Minds and Creating the Future" through sustainability, mobility and opportunity. According to the Trade Ministry, the Japan pavilion will be utilising digital technology to enable its exhibitions to be seen remotely as a result of pandemics and travel restrictions. Furthermore, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said, “the pavilion will convey the attractiveness of Japan to visitors from all over the world by allowing them to experience the country's history and technology”. After this, the next Expo will be held in 2025 in Osaka, Japan, on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay under the theme “Designing Future Society for our Lives”.