Helping hands to Mr. Kan
(From The Japan Times May 26 issue)

日中韓首脳会談、連携回復の契機に

The perseverance that people in northeastern Japan have shown after the massive earthquake and tsunami devastated their communities March 11 has impressed many people around the world.

In Northeast Asia, anti-Japan feelings in China and South Korea seem to have receded since the catastrophe, thanks to Tohoku people's dignified behavior.

Under these circumstances, Prime Minister Naoto Kan held meetings with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on May 21 and 22 in Fukushima and Tokyo. In a sense, the timing of the summit enabled Mr. Kan to gain politically by enabling him to take advantage of the postdisaster situation.

Even so, the summit has produced meaningful results although they are not grand-scale achievements.

In preparing the summit, Mr. Kan was apparently obsessed with the idea of enhancing his political image. There is the impression that Mr. Wen and Mr. Lee were cajoled to go along with Mr. Kan's notion of what the summit should convey.

On May 19, the Global Times, under the wing of the Chinese Communist Party's organ People's Daily, had criticized Japan in its editorial for not showing diplomatic courtesy during the planning stage of the summit.

On May 21, the three leaders visited the city of Fukushima, 60 km from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, where major nuclear accidents have caused radiation leaks and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

Mr. Kan welcomed Mr. Wen and Mr. Lee at a gym where evacuees of the nuclear crisis are staying.

The three leaders taste-sampled local agricultural produce such as cherries, tomatoes and cucumbers — in a show crafted by the Japanese side to alleviate concerns that Japanese agricultural products are contaminated with radioactive substances.

The meeting of the three leaders, held the next day at Tokyo's Guesthouse, started with a one-minute silent prayer for the souls of those who perished in the March 11 calamity.

Mr. Kan said Japan will use "revival from the disasters" as a chance to make Japan again a country full of vitality, pushing reconstruction by bringing in "vitality" from overseas countries and opening Japan to the international community.

In their joint declaration, the leaders "expressed our determination to bolster Japan's efforts to overcome this difficult situation through trilateral cooperation in various areas" — an encouraging promise for Japan, which is reeling after the catastrophe.

The declaration included a point, strongly desired by Mr. Kan, concerning efforts to minimize economic damage to Japanese exports from groundless rumors that products are contaminated with radioactive substances emitted from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The declaration stressed the importance of taking a careful approach, based on scientific evidence, to assure the safety of Japanese products that suffer from the effect of the nuclear crisis. Mr. Wen said China will partially ease restrictions on Japanese agricultural imports if Japan guarantees their safety.

Mr. Wen also said China will cooperate with Japan to increase the number of Chinese tourists to Japan, which has plummeted since the March 11 disasters.

While these are welcome developments for Japan, Mr. Wen also expressed a hope that Japan will understand China and South Korea's worries about the release in April of highly radioactive water from Fukushima No. 1 into the sea.

Japan should seriously take his request to heart and disclose accurate information about the nuclear crisis without delay to Japanese people and foreign governments.

On the issue of large-scale disasters, the three leaders agreed that if any of their countries is stricken by such a disaster in the future, the other two countries will offer their utmost support to the country, including dispatch of emergency rescue teams.

Mr. Kan should not forget the open and sincere manner in which Mr. Wen and Mr. Lee offered their helping hands to him at the summit. He must be careful not to waste the goodwill and the achievements attained at the summit.

Mr. Kan must carefully handle Japan's diplomacy toward China and South Korea. The seeds of friction, such as issues related to the Senkaku Islands and the Takeshima Islets, as well as natural gas development in the East China Sea, still remain.

東日本大震災後に東北の人々が見せた忍耐力は世界の人々の心を動かした。東南アジアでは、中国と韓国の反日感情が薄れたようだ。

そのような状況下で中国の温家宝首相、韓国の李明博大統領と会談した菅首相は、有利だったといえ、意味ある結果をもたらした。

菅首相は会談での政治的イメージ向上に躍起になっていたようだ。会談においてどんなメッセージを発信するかに関して、中韓首脳は菅首相の考えに沿うよう促された印象がある。

中国共産党の機関紙人民日報の傘下にある環球時報は社説で、主催国である日本側の調整について外交儀礼に欠けるとの不快感を示した。

3首脳は3月21日に福島を訪問、中韓両首脳は避難所となった体育館で迎えられ、日本側の演出で地元農産物の試食も行なわれた。東京の迎賓館では会談前に犠牲者へ黙祷が捧げられた。

菅首相は、日本を活力ある国に再生させる機会として震災をとらえ、諸外国の活力も取り込み、国際社会に開かれた復興を進めると述べた。

3首脳は共同宣言で「様々な分野における3ヵ国協力を通じ、この困難な状況を乗り越えようとする日本の努力を支えていく決意を表明した」。菅首相の意向により、日本産品への輸出規制の歯止めにつながる文言も盛り込まれた。

温家宝首相は、安全性の確保を条件とした上での農産物の輸入制限緩和と日本向け観光促進への協力を表明したが、放射能汚染水の海洋放出についての中韓の懸念も示した。

さらに3首脳は、大規模な災害時の相互支援体制強化で合意した。両首脳が誠意を持って手を差し伸べてくれた好意を菅首相は無駄にしてはいけない。尖閣、竹島、東シナ海油田に関する問題はまだ残っており、菅首相は今後、慎重な外交努力を続けていかねばならない。