#4 The first Diet session- Suga’s Overseas trip- UK-Japan trade deal- Zero carbon emissions by 2050
HIGHLIGHTS: 15th Oct – 31st Oct.
● Suga announced short-term, result-oriented domestic policies in the first Diet session, while his foreign policy remains closer to his predecessor.
●The issue of disposal of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima power plant remains unresolved.
●Japan receives international attention over its fixed stance on nuclear fuel recycling plan.
●UK-Japan trade deal sealed over a short period. This a significant achievement for the UK & could lead to new business prospects for Tokyo.
●Suga announces Japan’s goal of attaining zero carbon emissions by 2050.
1. POLITICS
●In the review meeting on Social security reforms, countermeasures against the declining birth rate were discussed. Japan’s fertility rate has been in decline for four consecutive years and has fallen below 1.4 for the first time in the last eight years. Increase in government aid for infertility treatment, measures to reduce the waiting time to enter childcare centers and paternal leave were identified as ways to tackle the problem.
●An Asahi Shimbun opinion poll showed that the Suga’s cabinet’s approval ratings plummeted to 53% from 65% in September, amid the government’s stance on the Science Council members appointment issue. The government has changed nine times since 2001; this is the second-highest decline in approval rate in that period for a cabinet.
●Suga, meanwhile, sent an offering to the Yasukuni shrine, while Ex-PM Shinzo Abe visited the Shinto shrine for the second time this year after resigning as prime minister. Regarding the offering & visit to the controversial shrine, the chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato remarked that “it was made in their private capacity and is based on one’s personal belief & religious freedom and government cannot interfere in such matters”. The war-linked Yasukuni shrine honors the Japanese wartime leaders who were convicted as criminals by an Allied tribunal. China & South Korea view the shrine as a symbol of past military aggression by the Japanese.
●Considering recommendations by experts, the Japanese government had decided to release contaminated water from the Fukushima Daaichi nuclear power plant into the ocean. At the same time, it was assuring consumers about the safety of produce from the Fukushima region. This assurance came as countries like South Korea had banned seafood imports from Fukushima. The Japanese government’s plan, however, provoked angry responses from fishermen, neighboring nations, environmental groups and local leaders, who feel that the toxic radioactive water will affect the environment and marine life. As an outcome, the government has postponed announcing its decision to release treated radioactive water into the ocean.
*Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 followed a major Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami.
●Taro Aso, Japan’s Finance Minister spoke about the benefits of virus relief cash handouts recently. He said that individual savings had increased; though the effect of stimulating consumption was limited. Cash payments (1L yen per person) was distributed to all citizens as a part of coronavirus relief measures.
●The Japanese government announced its intention to continue with nuclear energy policy and fuel recycling program. International concerns are being voiced as Japan already has a huge stock of plutonium. The coreof Japan’s nuclear power strategyis about recycling used fuel to recover plutonium & uranium to make MOX fuel. Japan, a non-nuclear country has pledged to use nuclear energy, an environment-friendly source of power for commercial & peaceful purposes.
2. ECONOMY
●In the “Growth Strategy Meeting”, Suga positioned increasing the productivity of small & medium enterprises as one of the pillars of growth strategy. According to David Atkinson, a foreign security analyst from Suga’s planning team, by promoting mergers and acquisitions as means to prevent business closure of low performing SME’s, the decline in productivity due to SMEs could be tackled.
●It has been observed that Abenomics has resulted in stock market improvement but the pandemic is acting as a headwind. Despite the pandemic situation, the public money flowing from the Bank of Japan and Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) have boosted the stock markets .
● In August, Warren Buffet invested in five Japanese trading houses (Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Sumitomo). This led to an increase in foreign investors returning to Japanese markets. The other factors for increased stock market investment are Japan rather quickly returning to some sort of normalcy following the pandemic, shareholder-friendly reforms implemented by Abe, and shareholder-responsive stock market. All these are further strengthened by Suga’s reforms which aim to empower shareholders.
●Haruhiko Kuroda the governor of Bank of Japan said that he isn’t looking to review the inflation targeting policy, adding that the policy framework is already “quite similar” to that of US Federal Reserve’s average inflation target, even though central banks in the US and Europe are looking at revising growth-centric policies.
●The Japanese Fair Trade Commission is looking at closely working with its counterparts in the US and Europe for regulating market competition among the digital platform operators against monopoly in the market. This step is taken to prevent abuse against consumers by dominant market players.
*The prominent digital platform operators dubbed as “GAFA” are Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.
3. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
● Suga’s first overseas trip after becoming the Prime Minister took him to Vietnam and Indonesia. His government intends to continue the Abe’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” policy. Suga said that “ASEAN countries are key partners to Japan, whose cooperation is important to achieve the shared vision of FOIP.” He aims at countering the increasing assertiveness of China in the region by cooperation from countries concerned with South China Sea issues, through peaceful resolutions abiding international law and not resorting to force or coercion. Other key developments from the visit: Suga agreed on a military equipment and technology export pact with Vietnam and export of Japanese defense gear and technology to Indonesia.
*FOIP Strategy: A key for stability and prosperity of the international community is the dynamism that is created by combining “two continents”(Asia & Africa) and “two oceans”(Indian ocean & Pacific ocean).
● In recent times there has been an increasing number of Chinese ships on the Yamato banks in the Sea of Japan, a rich fishing ground. The Fisheries agency has received angry responses from Japanese fishermen for warning them to refrain from entering the waters citing safety reasons. The waters are within the exclusive economic zone of Japan, considered permissible limits for fishing. There have been many incidents in the past when North Korean ships had intruded these waters. It was reported as 5000 times last year to just one time this year. The sharp decline in the North Korean boats entering Japanese waters has been speculated to be because of the pandemic.
● Britain’s Ministry of Foreign affairs revealed that the Russian spy agency GRU had plans to conduct cyber raids against people and organizations involved in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, even before they were postponed to next year. Speaking on the issue, chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato said that “This malicious activity by the GRU which intends to shake the foundation of democracy cannot be overlooked. We intend to work together with related organizations to devise cybersecurity measures to make Tokyo Olympics a success.”
*The same organisation was behind the cyberattack against winter Olympics and Paralympics at Pyeongchang in South Korea, in 2018.
● UK-Japan trade deal was signed by Toshimitsu Motegi, the Japanese foreign minister, and Liz Truss, the UK’s international trade secretary in Tokyo. This is the first post-Brexit deal for Britain outside the EU. The new deal is similar to earlier deals but has additional clauses related to digital trade and agricultural exports.
●With Honduras recently ratifying the UN treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the list of countries has reached 50, a pre-condition for the treaty to come into force on 22nd Jan 2021. Nuclear weapons states like the US, UK and France have shown no intention to sign the treaty. Japan and South Korea, which depend on the US security umbrella, have not signed either. In his comments at this year’s Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony, Abe had said that “Countries share the goal of abolition of nuclear weapons. But the treaty has not been created keeping in mind the real situation of safety and security. Japan’s view of thinking & approach on the same is different.” This indicated Japan’s position that it would not ratify the treaty. The survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bombing have criticized this stance of Abe and many Japanese citizens are hoping the government under Suga would change its attitude towards signing the treaty.
4. DEFENSE
●The Malabar naval exercise will be held off the Indian coast with participation from India, US, Australia and Japan. This is the first time Australia has been included in the annual drill.
*This also comes off as first-time military level engagement among the QUAD members to strengthen coordination between navies in one of the world’s busiest trade routes and also is seen as their will to work for the shared security interests.
5. ENVIRONMENT
●Following the climate pledge of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the climate plan of US presidential candidate Joe Biden, Suga recently declared that Japan aims to achieve zero carbon emission by 2050. As per climate scientists, experts & environmentalists, Suga’s announcement of achieving a 100% clean energy economy falls short of reality without being backed by a concrete plan.
*The government supports constructing new coal powered plants inside and outside Japan; in the energy mix proportion, the target for renewable energy is only 22% by 2030, which ought to be at least 45% to reach anything closer to Paris agreement.
6. Other Stories of Interest
● The revised edition of Suga's book "Seijika no kakugo" (A politician's resolve), has been on sale from 20th Oct. An interview of Suga from when he was the chief cabinet secretary has been added, while chapters on managing official documents that criticized the then ruling Democratic party for failing to maintain proper records on the Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, and the nuclear crisis has been removed from the book. The book was first released in 2012 when Suga served as a member of the opposition.
●An unmanned payment store was opened in Tokyo by Kinokuniya, which operates high-end supermarkets. The camera sensors fitted in the store recognize items picked by the customer and the touch panel at the exit displays item-prices. The customer can conveniently pay and leave without the need of a store attendant.
●Avigan, the domestically developed drug in Japan 20 years ago has come to notice recently for being effective in COVID-19 treatment.
●Three NGOs, PWJ, Japan Iraq Medical Support Network (JIM-NET), and Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC), are jointly organizing an online event to share the actual situation of war-torn Syria , Iraq and Palestine and the medical assistance required for coronavirus treatment.
* Japanese Individuals through these organizations have proactively involved themselves before and during the pandemic in providing humanitarian assistance in the crisis filled regions.
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