Which statement is true about the industrialization of the United States and Japan

CHAPTER ONE

BASIC TASKS OF

JAPAN'S FOREIGN POLICY

1. Introduction

The dramatic growth of the national strength since the end of World War II has elevated Japan's status in the international community. Today, it is no exaggeration to say that more often than ever international political and economic issues cannot be coped with without Japanese participation.

Economically, having recovered from devastation from the war, Japan now accounts for about 10 percent of the world's gross national product (GNP). Its position as a major economic power is now firmly established. Along with this change, there have come to be increasing awareness and expectations of Japan's political role in the global community.

Meanwhile, in today's more interdependent international community, political and economic matters including security issues, are closely inter-related on a comprehensive and global basis. As a nation, which can secure its peace and prosperity only in the context of world peace and prosperity, Japan should tackle its foreign policy tasks comprehensively and coherently in such fields as security, economy, economic cooperation and cultural exchange and expand its international responsibilities from the economic field around which Japan's role has been centered, to cover the political area as well, making contributions in ways befitting its national strength and conditions.

2. Assuming a More Positive Political Role

In response to the world's expectations Japan must play amore positive international role in the political area as well. For this purpose Japan, taking account of the following principles, must pursue an independent, positive foreign policy befitting its national strength and conditions so that it may win the trust of other nations.

Japan must, first, make clear its basic position and the grounds behind it.

In the present international environment centering on East-West relations, Japan is "a member of the West." Geographically it is grounded on the Asia-Pacific region. This means that Japan's foreign policy stance inevitably varies with nations and regions, although it maintains its basic attitude of seeking to secure friendly relations with all countries of the world. It should be noted that a country without an established position of its own will not be trusted by other countries, and that such a country might even become isolated from the rest of the world.

Second, taking into account this basic position, Japan must take internationally responsible actions and follow coherent policies in the long term as well.

In so doing it is important for Japan to make clear what it can do and what it cannot do, and to faithfully carry out its declared policies. Japan cannot make any positive contribution in the international arena without clarifying its own policies and views and without firmly carrying them out.

For example, it is Japan's responsibility, also from the viewpoint of being one of the leading members of the free world, to make further efforts to improve its defense capability as it has stated at home and abroad. At the same time, however, it is important for Japan to continue to clarify its adherence to the basic policy of maintaining a solely defensive posture under the Constitution. Also, it should be made clear that Japan will never become a military power that would pose threats to other nations, and that it will firmly maintain the three non-nuclear principles.

In the economic area as well, Japan should assume an internationally responsible attitude. For example, as it has internationally stated, efforts must be made to further open up the domestic market, pursue positive economic management and expand economic cooperation to the developing countries.

To nurture in such a way the international trust in Japan in a wide range of fields including politics and economy, can be said to be a prerequisite for Japan being able to play a positive international role.

Third, Japan must always maintain a fair and objective assessment on the international situation and hold its own independent views on the basis of such an assessment.

To constantly hold a fair and objective assessment and carry on dialogue with countries of the world on the basis of it is not only a way for Japan to contribute politically to the international community, but also a way to enhance its international status.

For example, during visits made by Foreign Minister Abe to Iran and Iraq in August 1983, Japan presented its own view, from as fair and objective a standpoint as possible, on the international situation surrounding each of the two disputing nations. By so doing Japan tried to reduce the danger of the armed conflict escalating as the result of a miscalculation on the part of either nation. This is one of the major significances of the Foreign Minister's visits. Recently, inquiries are made in rapidly growing numbers on Japan's assessment and prospects concerning international developments by nations around the world, not only neighboring Asian nations such as the ASEAN nations and China but also the United States and European countries. The change in this regard is striking compared with only several years ago.

This attests to the growth of Japan's national strength and the international trust which it has cultivated through the continuous peace diplomacy of the past 30 years. But this is also a reminder of the need for Japan to strengthen the information related functions in its conduct of diplomacy and thus improve its ability to form accurate judgments on the international situation.

Fourth, Japan must base its foreign policy on national support.

Today more than four million Japanese travel abroad yearly learning about foreign countries at first hand and supporting Japan's diplomatic activities. Foreign and domestic policies are intertwined more closely than ever before as overseas developments and Japan's responses to them could have a tremendous impact on every aspect of national life. To maximize the overall national interest while coordinating international requirements and domestic circumstances, diplomacy must be conducted on the basis of the people's understanding and support.

True mutual understanding between the peoples of Japan and other nations is a basic prerequisite for the conduct of such diplomacy. Hence cultural exchange and public information activities on a broad basis must be promoted.

3. Japan's Basic Position

(1) Foreign Policy as "a Member of the West"

Japan shares the basic values of freedom and democracy with the other industrialized democracies. Japan and these nations have common interests in maintaining and developing the free trade and market economy system. It is Japan's basic foreign policy to maintain strong solidarity and close cooperation with these Western democracies on a broad range of international political and economic fields.

Friendly and cooperative relationship with the United States, based on the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, is the cornerstone of Japan's foreign policy. The United States is Japan's most important partner in a broad spectrum of areas including politics, economy and defense. It is especially necessary for Japan to ensure smooth and effective operation of the Japan-U.S. security arrangements, which represent a pillar of this country's security policy, responding to the role the United States is playing and the efforts it is making to maintain Japan's security.

Japan and the United States should make sustained efforts to resolve bilateral issues in the defense and economic areas. In addition to the resolution of such pending issues of immediate concern they must further develop their relations to promote mutual cooperation from a global perspective.

Among the Japan-United States-Western Europe trilateral relationship, it is to be welcomed that the ties between Japan and West European nations have been further strengthened through such exchange as the visits made to European capitals by Japan's Foreign Minister in January 1983. It is particularly important for Japan to further promote political consultations and cooperation with the West European countries which are increasingly deepening their awareness of Japan's political role.

(2) Diplomacy Grounded on the Asia-Pacific Region

In recent years the Asia-Pacific region has exhibited more vitality and dynamism than any other region. It is pregnant with great possibilities for growth and development. Obviously, stability and prosperity in this area is of vital importance to the peace and prosperity of this country. Japan must contribute to peace and development in Asia and the Pacific region by ascertaining the hearts and minds and winning the confidence of its neighbors and other countries in the region, thus promoting friendly relations with them. This is also a way to secure its own peace and security.

Japan and Asia-Pacific nations maintain the most friendly relations in their history. The climate of Japan's relations with the Republic of Korea improved markedly with the visit made by Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone soon after he took office. Further efforts should be made, however, to build a multidimensional and popularly based relationship between the two nations. A relationship of friendship and mutual trust has been maintained with China, with the prime ministers of both nations reciprocating visits in 1982 in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the normalization of relations. China, now in the process of modernizing itself under an open-door policy, attaches great importance to relations with Japan. This is shown by the fact that General Secretary Hu Yaobang referred to relations with Japan before those with other countries in a report to the party congress held in September 1982. Japan should reciprocate it by promoting friendly and cooperative relations with China. Relations between Japan and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have become still closer with visits to the region by Japan's Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers. Japan should continue her support to the self-help efforts of the ASEAN nations to improve their resilience and to the development of ASEAN as a regional cooperative organization. This is essential to peace and stability in this area. In order to bring political stability to Indochina and Southeast Asia as a whole, Japan should seek a comprehensive political settlement of the Cambodian problem and support ASEAN's efforts in this direction, while at the same time maintaining dialogue with Viet Nam. In addition, Japan's friendly and cooperative relations with Southwest Asian nations show signs of further improvement.

Japan, the largest aid-giving nation in Asia, must contribute to stability and development in this region, cooperating with the Pacific-rim countries and other industrial democracies for the development and prosperity of this region.

(3) Broad-Based and Multi-Faceted Diplomacy

Japanese foreign policy, as stated above, is based on the Asia-Pacific region. Also, Japan is "a member of the West." At the same time, however, Japan must, like it or not, conduct its foreign policy from a global point of view in all of the political, security, economic and cultural areas. This is inevitable in the light of the changes in the international situation and the growth of Japan's national strength. The question of world peace cuts across the national borders. Events in one region may immediately affect the entire world, creating a situation in which Japan cannot remain aloof. On the other hand, Japan's actions affect the world so much that no region can ignore them. In these circumstances Japan must conduct a broad- and multi-faceted foreign policy bilaterally and multilaterally, as in the United Nations. By so doing Japan can contribute to the stabilization of the international circumstances surrounding it.

For example, Japan can explore the possibilities for an early settlement by peaceful means of the Iran-Iraq armed conflict and of the Cambodian problem. This country is in a good position to do so because it maintains channels of dialogue or cooperative relations with both Iran and Iraq and also with the countries in Indochina and the member states of ASEAN. It can also study positively the possibilities for cooperation with Multinational Force (MNF) in Lebanon and for assistance in the reconstruction of that war-torn country from a standpoint of international cooperation. In doing so, however, Japan must closely watch progress in the implementation of the agreement concerning the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon. Another possible area of contribution is cooperation to the civilian section of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG), including the dispatch of personnel when it starts its activities for the purpose of assisting the independence of Namibia.

In order to give greater breadth and depth to its foreign relations, Japan should also try to promote friendly and cooperative relations with all nations of the world, regardless of their social systems and national circumstances. This orientation of its foreign policy underscored the official visits made by our Foreign Minister to Burma and Yugoslavia, both committed to a policy of nonalignment, in March and June 1983, to Romania and Bulgaria in August and to Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, a country traditionally sympathetic to Japan, in the same month.

4. Current Foreign Policy Issues and Japan's Responses

In the light of what has been stated above Japan must effectively tackle the following current foreign policy issues:

(1) Efforts Toward Peace And Disarmament

In the present international situation revolving around the opposition between the East and West, the construction of stable East-West relations is of the most fundamental importance to world peace and stability. While we must recognize the grim reality that the peace and stability of the world is maintained by the deterrence based on a balance of power, it is also essential that efforts be continued to promote dialogue and negotiation between the East and West with emphasis on disarmament. The political statement issued at the Williamsburg Summit declared that the summit countries must maintain sufficient military strength to defend freedom and justice on which their democracies are based. At the same time it expressed their wish to achieve lower levels of arms through serious arms control negotiations.

The U.S.-Soviet negotiations on the intermediate range nuclear forces (INF), particularly the Soviet SS-20 missiles, are of crucial importance to the security of this country. Japan has repeatedly made its position clear to the countries concerned, including the United States and the Soviet Union. It is highly significant that the summit countries displayed Western solidarity by making their position clear in the Williamsburg political statement that their security is indivisible and must be approached on a global basis. Japan expects the Soviet Union to respond to this in good faith and to make serious efforts toward disarmament. At the same time Japan must maintain close consultation and contact with the United States and other friendly nations. It should also continue to make efforts so that verifiable and effective disarmament measures may be worked out step by step at the United Nations, the Committee on Disarmament and other relevant forums. Being the only nation in the world which has experienced atomic bombings, Japan gives highest priority to nuclear disarmament so that such a nuclear holocaust will never again be inflicted on mankind. From this standpoint it must make further efforts toward progress in the U.S.-Soviet arms control talks, the comprehensive nuclear test ban and the maintenance and strengthening of the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

East-West relations must be placed on a course of greater stability not only through disarmament and arms control but also in the wider political, economic and cultural areas. To this end the Western nations as a whole must try to devise a common basic strategy and search for policies that can be implemented in the long term. At the same time they should seek self-restraint on the part of the Soviet Union, making it clear to Moscow that it can venefit from the West if it exercises such restraint. Also, economic relations with Eastern-bloc nations should be developed in ways conforming to the security interests of the West, instead of following the unprincipled policy of separating political and economic aspects.

Relations with the Soviet Union, our important neighbor to the north, are regrettably in a difficult phase, reflecting the severe East-West relations and also the Soviet military buildup in the Far East including the Northern Territories which are inherent Japanese territory. To establish stable relations with the Soviet Union on the basis of true mutual understanding is one of Japan's major foreign policy tasks. Japan, bearing in mind its position as a member of the West, must continue efforts to maintain dialogue with the Soviet Union on various occasions in order to resolve the territorial issue and conclude a peace treaty with them so as to establish stable relations between the two nations.

East-West relations involve very long-term problems which can be resolved only through prudent and coherent policies over an extended period of time. All the measures described above must be followed by the West in order to maintain such policies. In addition, it is crucially important to ensure the sound development of the economies of the industrialized democracies, which provide the basis for the power of the West, and to make greater efforts toward the solution of North-South problems through the vitalization of the world economy.

(2) Contribution to World Economic Development

The world economy, as confirmed at the Williamsburg Summit, is witnessing signs of easing inflation and business recovery in some countries. But interest rates in the United States still stay at high levels. Unemployment in the United States and other nations beset with structural problems also remains high. World trade has stagnated since 1980, recording a 6 percent year-on-year decline in 1982. Against this background protectionist moves continue persistently. Moreover, developing countries are plagued by many difficulties, such as the problem of accumulated debts of Latin American countries.

In these circumstances it is important for each country to make best efforts to run its economy in a balanced manner internally as well as externally, in order to secure the non-inflationary and sustained growth of the world economy. At the same time it is necessary to make further efforts to prevent the proliferation of protectionism and reinforce the international trade system under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which is indispensable to maintain and strengthen the free trade system for the sustained economic growth of the world. In addition, for the stabilization of the international monetary system, broad multilateral cooperation including closer consultations should be strengthened.

As Japan's share of the world's GNP has come to represent around 10 percent, there is a strong expectation among countries that Japan will make greater contributions to the world economy. At the same time, however, there is criticism of Japan abroad as has been seen in economic frictions with its trading partners. Thus requests to Japan 'from foreign countries reflect various aspects of sentiment, and this country must respond effectively to such requests. In many cases, however, economic issues with other countries derived from these requests are directly related to domestic interests and have close bearings on domestic politics. In consequence Japan is obliged to treat these problems comprehensively.

Taking the above mentioned circumstances into consideration, it will be essential for Japan to make further efforts to open up its market aiming at balanced growth of trade and "an open country to the world," as well as to run its economy with policies centered on the expansion of domestic demand.

Progress in science and technology can play a major role in the stable growth of the world economy in the medium and long term. Foreign countries look at Japan with great expectations init as one of the advanced nations in the field of science and technology. Japan is therefore required to attach more importance to and further strengthen international cooperation in this field.

(3) Cooperation for the Stability and Development of the Developing Countries

Stable political, economic and social development in the developing countries is of crucial importance to world peace and stability. Such development will help prevent conflicts and resolve disorders in the developing region.

As a country firmly committed to international peace and closely interdependent with the developing countries, Japan deems it an important contribution to the world to cooperate for the stability and development of these countries. From this standpoint and recognizing that economic cooperation with the developing countries, particularly official development assistance (ODA), constitutes one of its major efforts to ensure its comprehensive security, Japan intends to further expand ODA pursuant to the new medium-term target despite the financial difficulties facing the government.

With the world economy still in the doldrums, and no dramatic improvement being seen in the economic predicament of developing countries, the significance of promoting cooperation for their economic and social development both from the standpoint of interdependence and out of humanitarian considerations should be reaffirmed. Strengthening assistance to those countries in areas important for the maintenance of world peace and stability, such as Thailand, Pakistan, Turkey, which are bordering conflict areas, and Egypt, the Sudan, Somalia and Jamaica, and also assistance to refugees will promote political and social stability in the recipient countries. This will lead in the long run to the elimination of domestic disorders and external interferences, and also to regional peace and stability.

Japan should also make a positive contribution to the strengthening of the United Nations peace-keeping functions because this, too, helps to achieve political stability in the developing region. In addition to financial cooperation, Japan should continue to study other ways of cooperation, such as sending personnel for peace-keeping activities within the limits of our capability and granting materials and equipment for such activities.

The establishment of constructive North-South relations is essential not only to the vitalization of the world economy but also to world peace and stability. At the Williamsburg Summit Japan emphasized the importance of addressing North-South problems, in the belief that there can be no prosperity for the North without prosperity for the South. At the sixth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held in Belgrade in June 1983, this country played a positive role as an intermediary between the North and South. Thus Japan has been contributing positively to North-South dialogue based on understanding and cooperation. Countries in the South are beset with many difficult problems, such as those related to external debts, primary commodities, trade, and currency and finance. Steady efforts must be made toward the solution of these problems through international cooperation.

Japan should manage its economy primarily through the expansion of domestic demand. At the same time it should further liberalize its domestic market. In these ways Japan should support indirectly the efforts of developing countries to achieve sound economic development through trade.

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How was the industrialization similar in Japan and the United States?

How was industrialization most different in Japan and the United States Apex?

What was industrialization like in Japan?

What are the two most important characteristics of Japan that helped with the industrial Revolution?