Monday Asia Events August 17 2020

UNDER BEIJING’S SHADOW: SOUTHEAST ASIA’S CHINA CHALLENGE. 9:00–10:00am (EDT), WEBINAR. Sponsor: CSIS. Speaker: Author, Murray Hiebert, Senior Associate, CSIS Southeast Asia Program. 

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THE ARMS TRADE TREATY & DIVERSION: ASSESSING RISKS AND IMPACTS. 9:30–11:00am (EDT), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Stimson. Speakers: Jonah Leff,Conflict Armament Research; Tom Nijs, Flanders Department Of Foreign Affairs in Belgium and Co-Chair of the ATT CSP6 Working Group on Transparency and Reporting; Stela Petrović, Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia and Facilitator of the ATT CSP6 Sub-Working Group on Diversion; Himayu Shiotani, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research; Rachel Stohl, Stimson Center.

A CONVERSATION WITH FORMER US SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON. Noon (EDT), #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT. Sponsor: Atlantic Council. Speaker: Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former US Secretary of State; Frederick Kempe, President and CEO, Atlantic Council.

TWILIGHT OF DEMOCRACY: THE SEDUCTIVE LURE OF AUTHORITARIANISM. 4:00–5:30pm (EDT), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Wilson Center - History and Public Policy Program. Speakers: Anne Applebaum, Staff Writer, The Atlantic. Moderators: Christian F. Ostermann, Director, History and Public Policy Program; Eric Arnesen, Professor of History, George Washington University. 

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CARLOS P. ROMULO IN WASHINGTON, DC - WITH LIANA ROMULO. 7:30-8:30pm (EDT), ONLINE EVENT. Sponsor: RMC Foundation, Philippines on the Potomac Project (POPDC), US-Philippines Society, Sentro Rizal Washington DC. Speaker: Liana Romulo, Gen. Carlos P. Romulo’s granddaughter.

Monday in Washington June 18 2018

ASSESSING THE TRUMP-KIM SUMMIT. 6/18, 9:00am-4:30pm. Sponsors: CSIS, Korea Foundation. Speakers: Dr. John Hamre, President and CEO, CSIS; Ambassador Lee Sihyung, President, Korea Foundation; Lim Sung-nam, First Vice Foreign Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea; Rachel Martin, Host, Morning Edition and Up First, National Public Radio; Dr. Sue Mi Terry, Senior Fellow, Korea Chair, CSIS; Dr. Paik Haksoon, President, The Sejong Institute; Dr. Kim Joon Hyung, Professor, Handong Global University; Evan Osnos, Staff Writer, New Yorker; Rebecca Hersman, Director, Project on Nuclear Issues, Senior Adviser, International Security Program, CSIS; John Schaus, Fellow, International Security Program, CSIS; Dr. Yoon Young-kwan, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea; Dr. Lee Sang Hyun, Senior Research Fellow, The Sejong Institute; Dr. Kim Heung-Kyu, Professor, Ajou University; Dr. Michael Green, Senior Vice President and Japan Chair, CSIS, Professor and Director, Asian Studies Program, Georgetown University; Christopher Johnson, Senior Adviser and Freeman Chair, China Studies, CSIS; Dr. Lee Hochul, Professor, Incheon National University; Dr. Lee Shin-wha, Professor, Korea University; Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO); Moderators: Ambassador Mark Lippert, Vice President, Boeing International, Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, U.S. Department of State; Dr. Victor Cha, Senior Adviser and Korea Chair, CSIS; D.S. Song-KF Professor of Government, Georgetown University. 

RESTORING RESTRAINT: ENFORCING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR USERS OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS. 6/19, 9:30-11:30am. Sponsor: CSIS. Speakers: H.E. Mr Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Moderator: Rebecca Hersman, Director, Project on Nuclear Issues, Senior Adviser, International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies.  

A CONVERSATION WITH MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY CLIMATE CHANGE COALITION. 6/18, 2:30-4:00pm. Sponsor: CSIS. Speakers: The Hon. Janet Napolitano, President, University of California; The Hon. Kristina M. Johnson, PhD, Chancellor, The State University of New York; Timothy Carter, PhD, President, Second Nature. Moderator: Sarah Ladislaw, Senior Vice President and Director, Energy & National Security Program, CSIS.

CHINESE EXPANSION AND THE SOUTH CHINA SEA: BEIJING’S STRATEGIC AMBITION AND THE ASIAN ORDER. 6/18, 3:00-4:00pm, Washington, DC. Sponsors: Asia Program, Wilson Center; Kissinger Institute on China and the United States. Speakers: Author Humphrey Hawksley, BBC Foreign Correspondent, Asian Waters: The Struggle Over the South China Sea and the Strategy of Chinese Expansion; Bob Drogin, Deputy Washington Bureau Chief and National Security Editor, Los Angeles Times; James Clad, Senior Advisor for Asia, CNA Corporation and former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia.

UNELECTED POWER: CENTRAL BANKING, THE REGULATORY STATE, AND DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY. 6/18, 3:30-5:00pm. Sponsor: AEI. Speakers: Sarah Binder, Brookings Institution, George Washington University; Sir Paul Tucker, Harvard Kennedy School, Systemic Risk Council; Stan Veuger, AEI; Philip Wallach, R Street Institute. 

AN EVENING WITH PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR JENNIFER PALMIERI. 6/18, 6:30-8:30pm. Sponsor: Woman’s National Democratic Club. Speaker: Author, Jennifer Palmieri, Hillary Clinton's Communications Director, Dear Madame President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World. 

Warning Abe

White House: Japan should do more to address 

‘comfort women’ issue

Posted By Josh Rogin, The Cable on Foreign Policy, Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 4:19 PM

On the eve of Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Washington, a top White House official said that Japan should do more to address lingering regional and international anger over its handling of World War II atrocities, including the forced sexual enslavement of hundreds of thousands of "comfort women."

On a conference call Thursday, The Cable asked top White House officials whether President Barack Obama believes that the Japanese government has done enough to address the comfort-women issue and whether Obama would raise the issue when he meets Abe on Friday. The top White House official dealing with Asia, National Security Council Senior Director for Asia Danny Russel, said that the impetus was on Japan to do more.

"President Obama knows full well that there are very sensitive legacy issues from the last century and believes that it's important to take steps to promote healing. So our position has always been to encourage Japan to take steps that will foster better relations, that will foster closer relations will all of its neighbors," Russel said. "At the same time, we would hope and expect that others would reciprocate to constructive and positive steps the Japanese government might take."

Last July, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton caused a diplomatic rift between the United States and Japan when it was reported that she corrected a State Department employee during a private briefing, insisting that the term "comfort women" was incorrect and that the victims of forced prostitution in wartime Japan should instead be called "enforced sex slaves."

Russel declined to say whether Obama would raise the issue directly with Abe Friday.

"Prime Minister Abe will be here and will be addressing the public as part of his own program," Russel said. "Let's hear what he has to say when he visits Washington."

White House officials did say that Abe and Obama are likely to talk about tensions in the East China Sea, tensions in the South China Sea, Iran, Afghanistan, North Africa, North Korea, the Trans Pacific Partnership, climate change, and cyber security.

Soon after Abe's Liberal Democratic Party took control back from the Democratic Party of Japan in parliamentary elections last December, Abe's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga shocked the region by suggesting that the Abe government wanted to review the 1993 Japanese government statement apologizing for the Japanese military's treatment of the "comfort women" and acknowledging the military's role in setting up "comfort" stations during the war.

In late January, Abe backed off of Suga's remarks and said that his government was shelving plans to review the 1993 statement, which had been issued by Suga's predecessor Yohei Kono. "The matter should not be turned into a political and diplomatic issue," Abe told Japan's Lower House on Jan. 31.

"There have been many wars throughout history, involving infringement on the human rights of women," Abe said. "When it comes to the issue of comfort women, my heart aches acutely when I think about those who had to go through painful experiences beyond description. I am no different from successive prime ministers on that point."

That promise wasn't enough for some U.S. lawmakers, who issued statements Thursday calling on the Japanese government to do more to make amends.

"Japan's government must fully acknowledge, apologize for and increase awareness of its history of ‘comfort women,'" Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) said in a statement. "These survivors of physical, sexual and psychological violence that was sanctioned by the Japanese government deserve this apology. But beyond that Japan must prove to the rest of the world that it is willing to express sincere regret for a systematic atrocity that was committed in its country's history in order to move forward as a democracy."

Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) said in a statement Thursday that as a former inhabitant of an American internment camp during World War II, he knew from personal experience that reconciliation related to the war was only achievable through direct government action.

"Indeed, nothing is more important right now than for a democratic country like Japan to formally acknowledge and unequivocally apologize for its systematic atrocity. Government is a living, breathing organism that is responsible for its past, present and future," Honda said. "In order to move toward a more peaceful, global world, Japan must accept responsibility and apologize. The grandmothers -- those survivors of physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetuated by Japan's Imperial Army -- are still waiting for an appropriate apology."

Israel and Honda wrote a letter Feb. 20 to Japan's ambassador to Washington Kenichiro Sasae urging the Japanese government not to revise the Kono statement, as the 1993 apology is known, and also calling on the Abe government to go further in apologizing and acknowledging wrongdoing.

In 2007, the House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution expressing the sense of the U.S. Congress that Japan should "formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Force's coercion of young women into sexual slavery."

Mindy Kotler, an expert on the comfort-women issue and the founder of Asia Policy Point, a non-profit organization that does research on Japan, told The Cable that the concern over the Abe government's handling of this issue goes much deeper than just the statements his aide made about revising the Kono statement.

"Abe and his supporters -- and you have to remember that 10 members of his cabinet including himself signed an ad last November that appeared in the New Jersey Star Ledger condemning the Comfort Women -- hold antiquated views of women, war, and just general human rights," she said. "Thus the problem is not about history but about a worldview that is out of touch with contemporary values and understanding. They do not engender trust, which is critical to any security situation in Asia."

For another story on the Honda/Israel letter see Agence France-Presse, US lawmakers warn Japan PM on 'comfort women'

Undermining National Honor

Ryoichi Sasakawa
father of Yohei and
founder of Nippon Foundation

Over the past few months, the Government of Japan has pursued a policy of denying that Imperial Japan's military was involved in the development and management of the Comfort Women system throughout their Empire. This effort has surprised and angered American officials. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, an ardent advocate of women's rights, has asked her staff to call the Comfort Women what they were: "sex slaves."

Although the 1993 Kono Statement, which is put forth as the semi-official Japanese Government apology to the Comfort Women, clearly notes government involvement, the Administration of Prime Minister Noda appears to be disputing its conclusion. Noda's government is anxious about recent Korean and Korean American efforts to honor the Comfort Women and to elevate the issue as an example of Japan's amoral nature.

Further, many members of Japan's private sector believe that the Kono Statement was inaccurate and the Comfort Women were merely paid prostitutes. The subject is a prominent advocacy issue for leading conservative organizations in Japan such as Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference).

In late June, the head of Japan's largest and most powerful group of foundations, Yohei Sasakawa, issued an op ed in the Sankei Shimbun condemning the Kono Statement and urging his peers to speak out against the Comfort Women. The Sasakawa family of foundations includes, the Nippon Foundation, Tokyo Foundation, Sasakawa Peace Foundation, US-Japan Foundation, Ocean Policy Research Foundation, and Shipbuilding Foundation. These foundations are the major, if not the sole funders of American researchers and think tanks that work on Japan issues. The op ed is a warning to them.

Below we provide a provisional translation for the scholarly community. We welcome suggestions to improve it.

A Sound Argument: Be Sensitive to National Honor and Dignity

By Nippon Foundation President, Yohei Sasakawa

Sankei Shimbun, June 21, 2012
Japanese tend to consider being reserved in expressing an opinion a desirable quality. This comes from their traditional spirit that respects harmony. I think this is a great virtue of the Japanese culture. But weak self-assertiveness is becoming one of the biggest obstacles to Japan for its international relations.

The Comfort Women issue between Japan and Korea poses one such example. Japan’s arguments are frustratingly weak against Korea’s aggressive assertions about the Comfort Women. History issues form the basis of a country. Future generation will have to carry the Comfort Women issue as a “negative legacy” if we do nothing today. Japan did not abandon its national dignity when it lost World War II. The Japanese government and politicians must be more sensitive to our national honor and dignity. They must say what they have to say. Such an attitude is what will lead to Japan-Korea friendship.

History Issues Form the Basis of a Country

Korean residents that occupy more than half of the population in Palisades Park, New Jersey built a monument commemorating comfort women tragedy. About the same time, a similar monument appeared on the street right in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. President Lee Myung-bak mentioned at a meeting with Prime Minister Noda that Japan had to prioritize the Comfort Women issue. President Lee said, “Japanese will see second, third, and more monuments if Japan does not take any sincere measures.” This can be considered “blackmail.”

Last month, Japanese consulate-general in New York and four Japanese Diet members visited Palisades Park and asked the city mayor to remove the monument. The mayor denied their request. The Korean media reported “Japan’s huge embarrassment.” Twenty-two other U.S. cities have movements to build a similar monument.

The monument in the U.S. states, “the Japanese Imperial military abducted 200,000 women and girls and forced them to serve as Comfort Women.” Prime Minister Noda answered a question in an Upper House Budget Committee that this “is far from the truth.” If the Japanese ignore this issue, it might become a historical fact. Correct history does not derive from an awkward relationship in which one makes an assertion and the other keeps silence.

When the U.S. House International Relations Committee adopted the resolution condemning Japan in the summer of 2007, I visited Senator Daniel Inouye’s office in Washington, DC. Senator Inouye opposed the resolution as a Senator. He pointed out that the Chinese and Korean public and private entities conducted public relations campaigns to influence American lawmakers and media. He said, “Japan is too quiet. Silence is not a good strategy in the United States.” There is also a massive Korean campaign requesting a change from “Sea of Japan” to “East Sea.”

Non-Existence of Public Diplomacy

When I visit foreign countries, there were many occasions where the heads of states told me that Japan’s public diplomacy is non-existent and that “Japan’s face is invisible.” Even if this is not the case, the Japan-Korea relationship remains particularly difficult. Japan’s overly apologetic feelings and unnecessary thoughtfulness toward the counterpart have partially contributed to the awkward Japan-Korea relationship. President Lee’s comments seem to be an unwilling choice forced by an increasing anti-Japan sentiment rather than a strategy to regain his approval rating

The first cause of this situation can be attributed to 1993 Kono Danwa (Statement). Yohei Kono served as Chief Cabinet Secretary under the Miyazawa administration. In the statement, Kono admitted to the use of force by the Japanese imperial military despite the lack of direct evidence from 230 official documents collected by the Japanese government. The statement shook the Japanese position that Japan had settled the compensation and reparation issues with the 1965 Japan-Korea Basic Relations Treaty.

After the Kono Danwa, the Koreans escalated their demands. The Japanese government repeated an apology and made repentance when there were opportunities. Even after DPJ came to power, they repeated the same mistake. DPJ ministers said such things as, “it is important for each side to exercise wisdom and overcome issues step-by-step” or “many foreigners would hold Japan credible if we tackle on the Comfort Women and post-war compensation issue.”

President Lee used the phrase “strong ties between the two countries” at the summit meeting in Beijing this May. However, we cannot have a meaningful Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) or General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) without clarifying the history issue. I also think that sticking to the “past with Japan” does not give Korea a positive prospect: now that Korea has grown into an economic giant.

The Koreans use the Comfort Women issue as a political weapon, on and off like a whale’s blowhole. It prevented the two countries from building mutual trust. The international community also closely watches how the two countries will solve this issue. Both countries must have a transparent, honest dialogue. If the Kono Danwa lacks verification, Japan should retract it without fear. If Japan would like to request the removal of the monuments, it should do so without reservation. Also, Japan should emphasize more its contribution to Korea’s economic development after the war.

Time for Japan to Step Forward

Repeating wishful thinking and speaking without a concrete strategy will fuel Korea’s anti-Japan sentiment. Besides, Japanese antipathy against Korea will deepen behind the boom of Korean culture in Japan. The relationship with neighboring countries should not be a house of cards.

This is the time for Japan to step up. Because the history issues form the basis of a country, Japan should articulate with national dignity its views and arguments. Otherwise, both sides will not find any compromise, and situation will remain the same. I hope the politicians will have courage and determination on this issue.

Golden opportunity to reaffirm vows, editors hope

The Japanese press is hoping the 50th anniversary of the signing of the US-Japan Security Treaty will be something to write home about.

The major dailies were also encouraged by the announcement that Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Okada would meet in Hawaii, ostensibly to discuss Futenma. To be sure, Japan’s editors have been uniformly and uncharacteristically negative toward the Hatoyama Administration.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of increasing discord between the central government and Okinawa. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirano tangled with Governor Nakaima (of the Liberal Democratic Party) last weekend and whether Okinawa prefecture had actually concurred with the 2006 agreement on building a V-shaped runway on the shore of Camp Schwab in Nago City.

To make matters worse, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, aiming to reach a conclusion on the relocation issue by May, continues to be hounded by his party’s coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, not only to abandon the original agreement but to move the Marines out of Japan. Appearing on an NHK talk show on Jan. 10, SDP head Fukushima beamed when she said that if it was not for her party having stopped Hatoyama, he would have made a decision last December to go with the Camp Schwab option.

If there ever was any doubt about how seriously Japan’s major dailies back the “deepening of the alliance,” as Hatoyama and President Obama agreed last November, such should have been erased by the editorials that have been coming out commemorating the security treaty’s 50th anniversary. Two came out over the weekend.

The Mainichi’s editorial, linking the strengthening of bilateral ties to Japan’s national interests, stressed values, such as freedom and democracy, which Japan and the US share. But the daily warned that “there is distrust and disappointment at the Hatoyama administration in the US” over the postponement of the decision on the relocation of Futenma Air Station. While not worried about an immediate collapse of the alliance, the Mainichi was concerned that such festering issue could eventually make it “hollow out.” It concluded that in the months ahead, “Hatoyama’s qualifications as Japan’s leader will be tested.”

The more liberal Asahi took a similar tone of alarm about the state of bilateral ties in its editorial on Jan. 9 welcoming the Clinton-Okada meeting. The editorial hoped that “this will be a starting point for rebuilding the damaged trust relationship.” It surmised that “Secretary Clinton likely responded to Foreign Minister Okada’s request because, from the perspective of the importance of Japan-US relations, it was not desirable to give domestic and foreign audiences the impression that the leaders of the two countries could not even meet, owing to the souring of ties over the Futenma issue.”

The Asahi hoped that the two would discuss not only Futenma but the “second important topic” of “deepening the alliance.” The paper, noting that the last issuance of a joint statement on the security arrangements came in 1996, stated: “It is good timing now to redefine the significance of Japan-US cooperation and the role of each country in the alliance," listing such areas as dealing with a changing security environment in the region, such as rising China, international terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and other global threats. The daily also pointed out the gap between the two allies, the US expecting Japan to play a more constructive role, such as dispatching troops overseas for peacekeeping, while the Hatoyama administration wanted to expand the alliance in non-military areas.

On Futenma, the Asahi hoped that Clinton and Okada would separate that issue, focusing on confirming the importance of the broader relationship. But the daily could not conceal its concern in the end: “There is no change in what we have said before about a quick resolution of the Futenma issue. If there is no responsible settlement by May, the main body of the alliance can only be cast adrift.”

Asahi could not help bringing up the US connection in a Jan. 10 editorial on Japan-South Korean relations. Ironically, the 50th anniversary of the security treaty also happens to be the 100th of Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1910. It noted that it was the US that nudged Japan to normalize postwar relations with South Korea in 1965, despite the strong lingering enmity there toward Japan. The editorial focused on the statements 15 years ago by then Prime Minister Murayama and others expressing regret for Japan’s militarist and colonial past, lamenting that after that, some members of the then ruling Liberal Democratic Party rejected them.

The daily urged Prime Minister Hatoyama to “directly face the history of colonial rule and aggression in Asia that Japan had carried out, and based on that lay out an initiative in which Japan would contribute to the peace and prosperity of Asia, which is now changing.”

William Brooks
APP Senior Fellow

Put another shrimp on the barbie, Secretary Clinton to visit Australia

The State Department announced on Wednesday, that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to the Western Pacific January 11-19, 2010.

Secretary Clinton will deliver a major Asia policy speech in Honolulu, Hawaii at the East West Center on January 12th focused on Asia-Pacific multilateral engagement. She will also be consulting with the Pacific Command and hold a ministerial meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on the relocation of the Futenma Air Station.

From Hawaii the Secretary will travel to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and Australia, returning to the U.S. on the 19th.

Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell briefed the foreign press on the trip Thursday. He noted that Washington "want[s] the Japanese Government to support strongly a robust military and particularly Marine commitment on Okinawa and elsewhere, at the same time, we also recognize that this is a broader relationship, that so many things are in play, and I would just point out over the course of the last couple of months, several things have occurred that underscore the importance of Japan as a partner to the United States."

For an official State Department summary of Mr. Campbell's briefing see HERE.

The evening edition of the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Campbell's statements a bit more stridently. Their Washington correspondent wrote:

Campbell pointed out that "the security alliance is the core of the Japan-U.S. relationship." He said: "The U.S. would like the Japanese government to provide strong support for robust troops in Okinawa, particularly for the presence of the Marines," demanding progress in the issue of the relocation of the USFJ's Futenma Air Station. He added, "Security issues are important in an Asia characterized by complexity and undergoing major changes. The U.S. wants a very clear declaration (from the Japanese side) of its intent to continue close cooperation with the U.S." He indicated that the U.S. will confirm this in the talks on deepening the alliance.

Campbell also stated: "The Japan-U.S. alliance provides the basis for economic development in Asia. Today, when the U.S. talks with its Asian friends, the first topic that comes up is: 'We want Japan and the U.S. to maintain a strong relationship'." He disclosed that Asian countries have expressed their concern about the present state of the Japan-U.S. relationship to the U.S. directly.