Relations impacts and cp’s
US-japan relations Good- Econ, Climate Change,China, War
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US-japan relations Good- Econ, Climate Change,China, WarRelations Solve Economy, Climate Change, China Rise, and WarKasai 09[Yoshiyuki Kasai chairman of Central Japan Railway Co., “Japan-U.S. economic integration vital now” 2/8/09, Lexis]Since the financial bubble burst in the United States last autumn, many pundits in Tokyo have prophesized the possible demise of U.S. primacy. "The era of U.S. unilateralism is over. What will ensue is a world that is multipolar in terms of politics as well as economics," they tended to say. For them, the U.S. dollar can no longer function as the sole key currency of the world. In addition, the same pundits maintain that the new U.S. administration will most likely lean toward Beijing, effectively hollowing out the alliance with Tokyo. Japan, too, according to them, should strengthen its ties further with East Asian nations. Before the bubble collapsed, many of them had even predicted that the likely downturn of the U.S. econom y would have only a limited impact on the rest of the world, believing that the European Union, China, India and Russia would continue their vibrant growths. Those in favor of "decoupling" had urged the Japanese to similarly reduce their "overdependence"on the U.S. economy. However, the complete opposite occurred. The faltering of the U.S. economy pulled Europe, China, India and Russia into a tsunami of recessions, like dominoes falling all at once. Their high growths proved to be dependent on excessive spending by U.S. consumers. Why is it that these pundits get it wrong so often? Realities aside, these so-called intellectuals have their own agenda that Japan should quit America and join Continental Asia. The reality is that, so long as the United States and Japan share the same ocean, from the east end to the west, with the latter having committed well over 60 years to democracy, liberal freedom, rule of law and the exercises of international cooperation, no other country but Japan can be called a natural ally of the United States and vice versa. Now that China has been strengthening its military capabilities, overtly showing its desire to achieve maritime hegemony, the Japan-U.S. alliance should be enhanced all the more. To be specific, the time has come for the two nations to integrate their economies on top of their long-sustained alliance. Both economies have become increasingly complementary, sector by sector. While Japanese agriculture still remains a sensitive area, its high-quality products are in growing demand among the Chinese. Meanwhile, U.S. agricultural products have gained a greater competitive advantage in the Japanese market thanks in large part to mounting concern toward the safety of food and food products entering Japan from China. No other time is riper than today for a Japan-U.S. economic partnership agreement (EPA). The largest and second-largest free market economies, if bound together, would give the safest assurance for world peace in the 21st century. In retrospect, stability in the 20th century matured only after World War I, the Russian Revolution, the Great Depression and World War II. The nuclear deterrent capabilities of the United States and the Soviet Union brought "peace" to the world--also known as the Cold War. If the Cold War environment was a state of equilibrium, the world now is in a prolonged, shaky period of transition in search of a new equilibrium of the 21st century. Amid such uncertainties, one thing is evident: The once-favored scenario of a proliferation of borderless economies leading to a "global society" that embraces "global citizens" was nothing but a mirage. Where then can we find a source of "trust" with historical underpinnings? This is a question we must always return to, and its answer lies in the Japan-U.S. alliance. It must not be diluted. Suffice to say, skeptics should look no further than the surrounding waters of Japan. There, it is as though the Chinese, calculating that the U.S. government's strategic preparedness will wane, are testing the effectiveness of the Japan-U.S. alliance. This is evidenced by recent repeated attempts by China to enter the Senkaku area, a de facto naval provocation against Japan. By carefully gauging the Japanese government's indecisiveness as well as the silence on the U.S. side, Beijing will most likely intensify its provocations and try to make its naval presence a fait accompli. What if, as a result, the bonding trust between the Americans and the Japanese was significantly weakened? That is the psychological landscape the Chinese intend to bring about. In order to prevent such a vicious turn of events from occurring, a clear message must continue to be sent to China and to the rest of the world that the United States is an Asia-Pacific nation, not an aloof outsider, and that the Japan-U.S. alliance will tolerate no intervention into the sphere it covers. What can the Japanese do to make those challenges achievable? That is the question Japan should address and pursue at the dawn of the Obama administration. One powerful solution is to forge the EPA. The rationale behind it is multifold. Firstly, industries on both sides have accomplished mature complementarities. Boeing cannot make its passenger aircraft, for instance, without relying upon the carbon fiber materials that only Japanese textile companies can provide. Secondly, the two most advanced market economies of Japan and the United States, if bound together, would put a powerful brake on protectionism. The EPA between these two nations that is 100 percent open and rigorously rule-based could create a bulwark against protectionist forces, thereby sustaining the liberal and open trading platform. Whether Japan and the United States can strike such an EPA hinges on Japanese agricultural policies. Japan must totally reboot its agriculture. The government has long tried to protect the farmers, thereby, in effect, maintaining the inefficiency of the industry. As a consequence, the country's farmland has been left desolate, with few young people wanting to succeed their farmer parents. With or without the EPA, it is the government's agricultural policies that have made the nation's agriculture unsustainable. For Japan, now is the time to reform its postwar farm policy that harks back to the days of the Occupation. This policy has been rigidly kept in place since then, failing to keep abreast of the times. If Japan can reform its agricultural policies and turn it into an export-oriented and job-creating sector, Japan and the United States will also be able to forge a complementary relationship between their farm industries that is based on a division of labor. In short, the Japan-U.S. EPA, and the resulting firmer integration between the two economies, would benefit Japan on many fronts. It would protect the open trading regime. The Japan-U.S. alliance would gain more stamina, further enabling the two nations to face up squarely against China. It would also help restructure Japanese agriculture, a task long overdue. Japan could add strength to the U.S. economy in many other areas. The technologies Japan has developed for its high-speed trains, if transferred to the United States under the EPA framework, would help theAmericans initiate large-scale public works projects, generate job opportunities and tackle climate change. High-speed railways emit the least amount of greenhouse gases of all modes of mass transit connecting major cities. Also, to provide the United States with Japan's high-speed railway technology in its entirety would surely enhance the mutual trust between the two peoples. True, high-speed railways are about traffic infrastructure. But, it could be the solution to many other issues if the EPA is put in place. It goes without saying that the road to realizing the Japan-U.S. EPA is rough. However, rising to the challenge of tackling a series of obviously difficult tasks is the only way for Japan to find a breakthrough solution for a better future. It is my earnest hope that the Japan-U.S. EPA will come into being under the leadership of Prime Minister Taro Aso. I hope that he will waste no time and spare no effort in enhancing the Japan-U.S. alliance, which must function as well in the 21st century as it has in the past Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 1.27 Mb. Share with your friends:
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