Monday Asia Events January 29, 2024

 THE INDO-PACIFIC AS JAPAN’S 21ST CENTURY GRAND STRATEGY. 1/29, Noon -1:00pm (EST), HYBRID. Sponsor: Harvard University. Speaker: Saori Katada, Professor of International Relations; Director, Center for International Studies, University of Southern California.

US INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICY AND THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN 2024 AND BEYOND. 1/29, 1:00-3:00pm (EST), HYBRID. Sponsor: American Enterprise Institute. Speakers: Sharon Bomer-Lauritsen, Founder, AgTrade Strategies; Gregg Doud, President, National Milk Producers Federation; Joseph W. Glauber, Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Vincent H. Smith, Director of Agricultural Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute; Craig Thorn, Partner, DTB Associates; Darci Vetter, Head of Global Public Policy, PepsiCo, Former Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the US Trade Representative.

A CONVERSATION WITH REP. DARRELL ISSA ON US–SOUTH ASIA RELATIONS. 1/29, 2:00-3:00pm (EST), HYBRID. Sponsor: Hudson Institute. Speakers: Rep. Darrell Issa, (R-CA), Aparna Pande, Research Fellow, Hudson Institute (India and South Asia).

GLOBAL BUSINESS SEMINAR: JAPAN'S ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENT ENVIRONMENT IN A CHANGING INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT. 1/29, 2:00-4:50pm (JST), IN PERSON ONLY. Sponsors:  Cabinet Office (CAO), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). Speakers: Mr. Marcus Schuermann, Chief Executive Officer / Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Japan; Mr. Masanori YOSHIDA, Executive Officer, Global Chief, Japan Exchange Group, Inc.; Mr. Mitsuru MYOCHIN, Deputy Director-General for Economic and Fiscal Management, Director General of the Office of Foreign Direct Investment Promotion; Mr. Kazuya NAKAJO, Executive Vice President, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO); Mr. Satoshi TAKAMATSU, Representative Director, President and CEO, ARCALIS, Inc.; Mr. Mamoru NAKANO, Japan Country Manager, Tenstorrent Japan Inc.; Mr. Luc PEJO, CEO, Ciel Terre Japan Inc.

PURCHASE BOOK

*INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW & POLICY COLLOQUIUM – “UNDERGROUND EMPIRE: HOW AMERICA WEAPONIZED THE WORLD ECONOMY”. 1/29, 3:30-5:30pm (EST), IN PERSON ONLY. Sponsor: Georgetown University. Speaker: Abraham Newman, Professor, Director of the Mortara Center for International Studies, Georgetown University.                                                   BYSTANDER SOCIETY: CONFORMITY AND COMPLICITY IN NAZI GERMANY AND THE HOLOCAUST. 1/29, 4:00-5:30pm (EST), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Wilson Center. Speaker: author Mary Fubrook, Professor of German History, University College London.

BOOK TALK WITH JOSEPH S. NYE JR - A LIFE IN THE AMERICAN CENTURY. 1/29, 5:00-6:30pm (ET), IN PERSON ONLY. Sponsor: Aspen Strategy Group. Speaker: Author Joseph S. Nye Jr, Founder and Co-Chair, Aspen Strategy Group.

CHALLENGING CHINA: THE PHILIPPINE EXPERIENCE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA. 1/29, 7:00-8:00pm (EST), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: U.S- Asia Law Institute. Speaker: Jay L Batongbacal, Professor, University of the Philippines College of Law, Director, Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea of the U.P. Law Center.

Prime Minister of Japan's Schedule June 20-28, 2013

June 20, 2013 (Thurs)

PM
03:42 Finishes tour of Europe. Arrives from England at Haneda airport on a government plane with wife Akie
03:59 Leaves airport
04:24 Arrives at Imperial Palace. Report of return
04:32 Leaves Imperial Palace
04:41 Arrives at office
04:58 Koji Omi, former Minister of Finance
06:20 Leaves office
06:34 Arrives in front of the Waterras complex in Awajicho, Tokyo. Gives speech
06:54 Leaves Waterras
07:14 Arrives at Hotel Okura in Toranomon, Tokyo. Dines at Chinese restaurant with Masahiko Ichiriki, president of Kahoku Shimpo; Masahito Yoshida, President of Fukui Newspaper Company; Sotaro Kosaka, President of Shinano Mainichi Shimbun; Go Oishi, President of Shizuoka Newspaper Company; Michikazu Shiraishi, Chairman and President of Kyoto Newspaper Company. Katsunobu Kato, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, is present
08:51 Leaves hotel
09:08 Arrives at private residence in Tomigaya

June 21, 2013 (Fri)

AM
07:59 Leaves private residence in Tomigaya
08:10 Arrives at office
08:11 Toshiro Yonemura, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management
08:22 Cabinet meeting begins
08:46 Cabinet meeting ends
09:17 Shigeru Kitamura, Cabinet Intelligence Officer
10:05 Taizo Nishimuro, Japan Post President
10:27 LDP’s Yuriko Koike, Chairperson, Public Relations Headquarters; Takuya Hirai, Public Relations Headquarters. Katsunobu Kato, Chief Cabinet Deputy Secretary, is present
11: 27 Kensei Mizote, Secretary-General for the LDP in the House of Councillors; Hiromi Yoshida, Deputy Secretary for the LDP in the House of Councillors

PM
12:49 Leave official residence
01:23 Arrives at Tokiwadai Station’s north exit in Tokiwadai, Tokyo. Gives street speech
01:37 Lays flowers at a monument for police officer Kunihito Miyamoto who died in the line of duty
01:39 Leaves station
01:53 Arrives in front of Itabashi Green Hall. Gives street speech
02:12 Leaves Itabashi Green Hall
02:39 Arrives at Keidanren Assembly Hall in Otemachi, Tokyo
03:00 Attends Annual Meeting of the National Association of Shinkin Banks and gives address
03:18 Leaves assembly hall
03:54 Arrives at the west exit of JR Kita Senju Station. Gives street speech
04:12 Leaves station
04:38 Arrives at east exit of Takenotsuka station. Gives street speech
04:59 Leaves station
05:41 Arrives at Ichinoe Station’s exit 7. Gives street speech
06:04 Leaves station
06:44 Arrives at office
07:28 Leaves office
07:30 Arrives at official residence. Dines with lyricist Yasushi Akimoto and Yoshio Nakamura, Emeritus Professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University
09:05 Leaves official residence
09:21 Arrives at private residence

June 22, 2013 (Sat)

AM
10:13 Leaves private residence
11:08 Arrives in front of Minami Osawa Station in Hachioji City, Tokyo. Gives street speech. Stump speech schedule
11:32 Leaves station
11:44 Arrives at restaurant in the same city. Has lunch with Koichi Hagiuda, LDP House Member

PM
12:26 Leaves restaurant
01:02 Arrives at south exit of JR Musashi-Koganei Station. Gives street speech
01:24 Leaves station
01:58 Arrives at Kichijoji Station’s north exit rotary. Gives street speech
02:21 Leaves station
02:52 Arrives at north exit of Shakujiikoen Station. Gives street speech
03:11 Leaves station
04:00 Arrives at west exit of JR Shinjuku Station. Gives street speech
04:21 Leaves station
05:08 Arrives at west exit of JR Kamata Station. Gives street speech
05:35 Leaves station
06:15 Arrives at Italian Restaurant Argento Tatsuji ASO in Ginza, Tokyo. Dines with actor Masahiko Tsugawa.
09:17 Leaves restaurant
09:34 Arrives at private residence

June 23, 2013 (Sun)

AM

07:09 Leaves private residence in Tomigaya
07:35 Arrives at Haneda Airport
08:00 Leaves Haneda on ANA flight 125. Itsunori Onodera, Defense Minister; Eiichi Hasegawa, Adviser to the Prime Minister also go
10:03 Arrive at Naha Airport
10:34 Leave airport
11:07 Arrive at Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa. Inside, lays flowers at the National Cemetery for the War Dead. Attends with Hirokazu Nakaima, Governor of Okinawa Prefecture
11:13 Leaves national cemetery
11:17 Arrives at Okinawa Peace Prayer Hall inside park
11:44 Leaves hall
11:52 Inside park, attends the Memorial Ceremony to Commemorate the Fallen on the 68th Anniversay of the End of the Battle of Okinawa. Offers flowers and gives address

PM
12:52 Gives interview to media outlets inside park
12:57 Leaves Memorial Peace Park
01:32 Arrives at Naha’s ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel Okinawa Harborview
01:49 Dines with Governor Nakaima in hotel’s banquet hall. Ichita Yamamoto, Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs; Aiko Shimajiri, Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office; Kurayoshi Takara, Vice Governor of Okinawa, are present
02:42 Leave hotel
02:52 Arrive at Naha Airport
03:21 Leaves airport on JAL flight 916
05:25 Arrives at Haneda Airport
05:36 Leaves airport
06:19 Arrives at private residence
10:55 Interview with media outlets at private residence

June 24, 2013 (Mon)

AM
08:35 Leaves private residence in Tomigaya
08:49 Arrives at office
10:20 Katsunobu Kato, Chief Cabinet Deputy Secretary
10:51 Itsunori Onodera, Defense Minister; Hideshi Tokuchi, Director-General of Defense Policy Bureau
11:31 Shigeru Kitamura, Cabinet Intelligence Officer; Koji Shimohira, Director, Defense Intelligence Headquarters enter
11:48 Mr. Shimohira exits
11:54 Mr. Kitamura exits

PM
12:04 Courtesy call from the children of Eisu Gakkan Elementary School in Fukuyama, Hiroshima and Great Falls Elementary School in Virginia, U.S.A.
12:54 Leave office
12:55 Arrive at National Diet
12:56 House of Representatives chamber
01:02 Opening of Plenary Session of the House of Representatives
01:04 House of Representatives Plenary Session break
01:06 Leave National Diet
01:07 Arrive at office
01:54 Leave office
01:55 Arrive at National Diet
01:56 House of Representatives chamber
02:02 Reopening of House of Representatives Plenary Session
05:28 House of Representatives Plenary Session adjourns
05:31 Hiroyuki Hosoda, Acting Chief Secretary of LDP
05:41 LDP President Chamber
05:43 LDP officer meeting
06:08 Leave National Diet
06:09 Arrive at office
06:13 Start of the Meeting of the Government Tax Commission
06:20 Excuses himself from meeting
06:42 Leaves office
06:59 Arrive at private residence

June 25, 2013 (Tues)

AM
08:39 Leaves private residence in Tomigaya
08:54 Arrives at office
09:05 Cabinet meeting
09:30 Richard Armitage, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State; Joseph Nye, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense
10:00 Meeting of the Advisory Council on the “Challenge Again” Initiative
10:50 Hideshi Tokuchi, Director-General of Defense Policy Bureau
11:49 Shigeru Ishiba, LDP Secretary-General enters

PM
12:08 Mr. Ishiba exits
12:09 Government party leaders’ discussion with Natsuo Yamaguchi, President of New Komeito Party. Party Secretary-Generals Mr. Ishiba and New Komeito’s Yoshihisa Inoue are present
12:38 Koichi Hagiuda, Deputy Director-General of the Headquarters for the Revitalization of Education of the Liberal Democratic Party
02:06 Interview with Asahi Shimbun
02:52 Katsuyuki Kawai, Chairman of the Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee
03:09 Taro Aso, Finance Minister; Yasushi Kinoshita, Head of Budget Bureau; Kazuho Tanaka, Head of Tax Bureau enter
03:48 Mr. Kinoshita and Mr. Tanaka exit
04:06 Mr. Aso leaves
04:23 Tomomi Inada, Administration Reform Minister
05:01 Receives Report on the Reform of the System of Large Metropolitan Areas and the System of Administrative Service Provision by Basic Municipal Units
05:58 Yoshihide Suga, Katsunobu Kato, Hiroshige Seko, Kazuhiro Sugita, Chief and Vice-Chief Cabinet Secretaries
06:33 Leaves office
06:34 Arrives at official residence. Dines with journalist Yoshiko Sakurai, Terumasa Nakanishi, Emeritus Professor at Kyoto University
08:05 Leaves official residence
08:11 Arrives at Hotel Leport Kojimachi in Hirakawacho, Tokyo. Inside banquet hall has informal talk with Takeshi Iwaya and Taimei Tamaguchi, both LDP House of Representatives Members
08:57 Leaves hotel
09:13 Arrive at private residence
09:20 TBS interview

Armitage Report III release August 15

Presidential elections bring out the ambitions of many. Although, foreign policy is little discussed in American politics, every Washington foreign policy expert vies for a candidate's attention. Their recommendations are issued in a series of short programs accompanied by even shorter memos that rely on phrases, which include "lynchpin," "pillar,""robust," "strengthen," "market-based," "freedom," "endgame," "flawed," and "reinvigorate" to restate the obvious.

For example, the Atlantic Council has a project called the Task Ahead: Memos for the Winner of the 2012 Presidential Election. The issue brief by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson on A New Framework for U.S.-China Economic Relations is one page and a half. One of the four recommendations is: "Assure financial markets that are transparent and have strong oversight by correcting flawed practices on both sides of the Pacific that have led to massive producer and consumer debt."

The master of the pre-election Asia reports is former Deputy Secretary of State in the Bush II Administration Richard Armitage. In October 2000, he and former Harvard professor Joseph Nye issued The United States and Japan: Advancing toward a Mature Relationship, better known as The Armitage Report. It was published through the National Defense University and primarily written by James Przystup.

This seven-page paper set the gold standard in influence and writing of  pre-election recommendations. It succinctly articulated the American Alliance Managers' desire to "see the special relationship between the United States and Great Britain as a model for the alliance." This attitude has inspired policy toward Japan in one way or another ever since. Japanese officials, however, have responded by insisting upon their independence and distancing themselves from a "blindly follow the U.S." policy.

Mr. Armitage's second presidential report  released in 2008 by CSIS was less successful. In part, it was too long: 28 pages. Entitled Getting Asia Right through 2020 it simply expanded on the first by emphasizing that the security of all of Asia was dependent upon the U.S.-Japan Alliance. It concludes: 

stability in East Asia will rest on a triangle of U.S.- Japan-China relations, which should be fostered in addition to our strong alliance with Japan. The cooperative efforts that marked Japan’s support for the United States in Afghanistan, its contribution to postwar reconstruction in Iraq, and its early participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative have set a firm foundation for closer future cooperation. We would conclude this report with the observation that to those to whom much has been given, much will be expected.

On Wednesday, August 15th, the Third Armitage report, The Armitage Nye Report: U.S.-Japan Alliance: Anchoring Stability in Asia, will be released at CSIS in Washington at a program to be held there from 8:45am to 10:00am [UPDATE 8/13/12]. You can watch it live on a CSIS webcast.

N.B.: The first two Armitage Reports were described as being put together by a bi-partisan committee. As there is a lot of ideological consistency among American Alliance Managers, most people interpret "bipartisan" as including one modest woman on each committee to take notes and correct grammar.