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From the Japan-Korea Trade War, We Smell the Inklings of Changes in the East Asian Situation

icon2019/07/17
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 From the Japan-Korea Trade War, We Smell the Inklings of Changes in the East Asian Situation

 

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

 

July 14, 2019


 Translation of an Excerpt

 

 

The Japanese government this month suddenly declared its decision to delete South Korea from the "white list" of friendly countries' economies, and starting from July 4th , it has begun to stringently review exports of three chemicals required for the production of semiconductors; when the source of supply was severely restricted, South Korea's semiconductor industry will inevitably suffer a great impact. With regard to the unfriendly move on the part of Japan, the South Korean government immediately proceeded with countermeasures, launching a boycott of Japanese goods, strictly controlling permits of South Korea’s tourism to Japan, and raising tariffs on Japanese imports, as well as suspending remittances between the two countries. The diplomatic ties between the two countries have suddenly become strained and tense.

 

Last year, South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled that Japanese conglomerates, such as Sumitomo, Nippon Steel, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, unlawfully requisitioned South Korean workers during World War II, which immediately faced the South Korean government seeking enormous damages. As Sumitomo, Nippon Steel and other conglomerates are members of the Japanese Business Federation, they collectively exerted pressure on the Japanese government; while the Abe government is facing the battle of maintaining the majority in the Senate elections latter this month, thus, it could not but adopt hard-line countermeasures against the South Korea government. We could see that Japan is using economic sanctions as tactics, attempting to talk with the South Korean government for terms based on these tactics.

 

Since the normalization of Japan-ROK relations in 1965, although the two countries have faced territorial disputes and historical questions, Japan has never used economics as a means for sanctions. Japan and South Korea are both important allies of the US in East Asia; the strained relations between Japan and South Korea will inevitably affect the substantive changes in the quadrilateral relations among the United States, Japan, South Korea, and China. Examining the Japan-South Korea trade war this time, we can find that two changes have already occurred in the East Asian quadrilateral relations:

 

First, the US’s influence on Japan and South Korea has weakened. Under the Obama administration, the United States still prodded the forging of signing a US-Japan-South Korea military agreement. Now that the situation on the Korean Peninsula has eased, if Trump wants to be the middleman between Japan and South Korea, it seems that his leverage point is further and further away. Secondly, Japan is walking toward the symbolism of "autonomous diplomacy." On the issue of economic sanctions, just as the Trump administration anxiously wants to ease the situation on the Korean Peninsula in order to deal with the US-China trade war with all efforts, the Abe government has singlehandedly launched economic sanctions against South Korea, escalating the tense relations between the two countries; it can be seen that Abe is using his final term to finish the last mile on the road of Japan’s autonomous diplomacy.

 

Just when the US’s influence in Asia is gradually receding, the Tsai government, nevertheless, is still intoxicated in the myth of "coalescing with the US to counter China", not only lacking thinking as a self-identity, but also not conforming to international trends, either. Look at Taiwan-Japan relations. When Abe is anxious to extricate Japan from the framework of US influence, walking out on Japan’s own independent diplomatic route, the DPP, nevertheless still considers Japan as a springboard for entering the Indo-Pacific grand design. This is probably barking up a tree.

 

Confronted with the Japan-Korea trade war, Taiwan’s industries may enjoy some benefits of order transfers, but in diplomacy, we should still maintain civility in others’ distress, and ponder on the way of Taiwan’s autonomy. Otherwise, in the matter of Taiwan’s ban on imports of Japanese nuclear-contaminated foodstuffs and fishing disputes, there is no guarantee that Taiwan will not become the next target of Japan’s sanctions.

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