The Middle East diplomacy in Japan has its own "uniqueness" in history.Generally speaking, Japan's foreign policy is criticized to follow the United States.Indeed, in terms of military security, Japan and the United States should be based on security, so Japan -US relations are the foundation.However, especially in Asian diplomacy and energy diplomacy, Japan shows different independent diplomatic routes from the United States.After the Iranian Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s, in the case of deterioration of the US -Iqi relations, Japan also maintained a good relationship with Iran because it was to ensure crude oil resources.Such an independent diplomatic example in Japan can also be seen in diplomacy in Cambodia and other countries.
In this sense, especially in Asia, Japan may play a different role in the United States.However, due to the influence of the Ukrainian war, the problem of security guarantee has become more and more valued, and the competition between the United States and China has continued to intense, and the economic security guarantee has also been valued.Pay attention to the closer cooperation in Japan and the United States than in the past.This may have cut Japan's "uniqueness" in Asian diplomacy to some extent.At this point, China has made some contributions to the restoration of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, bringing an impact on Japan.Because Japan originally consciously maintained the relationship between countries that had evil with the United States, and imagined that it could indirectly maintain a relationship with the United States.
Of course, Japan does not realize its uniqueness.For example, in the concept of the Pacific Ocean in India, Japan believes that it must include economic activities, more comprehensive content, and attach importance to openness, and also advocate the importance of the AOIP (AOIP) of the Asian Pacific Ya'an India (AOIP).Even so, Japan has not yet attached great importance to security guarantee, or in Asia's diplomacy, Japan has not exerted its flexibility in the past.
Prime Minister Kishita Tian Wenxiong's visit to the Middle East can be regarded as a realization of China's sense of existence in the region, on the other hand, it is also intended to retrieve Japanese independent Middle East diplomatic model, and build new relationships suitable for the times.The biggest achievement of Japan and Saudi Arabia's summit on July 16th was to establish a relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohamad Salman, which has become increasingly power.In addition, on the basis of the determined "Saudi Japan Vision 2030", further cooperation in the diversification of energy and industries has reached an agreement on the diversification of energy and industries, high -end fields, and medical and health care, showing Japan's advantages.On the other hand, Kishida also provided the work results of the Hiroshima Summit to introduce the importance of "rules -based" and Kishida advocated the "free and open Indian Pacific (FOIP) strategy" strategy in India.
Japan once advocated the "values foreign policy policy" to the world, but did not achieve the expected results.Based on this, the policy proposals of various regions should be selected as much as possible in the language rhetoric suitable for the status of various countries and regions.As for how much it can be accepted by the other country, it remains to be verified.
In July 17, the UAE President Muhammad Alna Haman and Kishida's head talks also negotiated on multiple cooperations, and made a clear culture in terms of the results of specific projects including aerospace and agriculture.As a traditional buyer of UAE crude oil, Japan has established a long -term friendly relationship with it.The future topic is how to build a relationship beyond generation.On July 18th, in the talks of King Tamim and Kishida's summit on July 18, not only discussed the continued development of Japan's infrastructure support for Qatar, but also discussed the topic of promoting Qatar's investment in Japan.Development of close cooperation.Kishida also enthusiastically conveyed the results of the Hiroshima Summit, but it has been retained in language expression, which is generally expressed the importance of "rules -based".
As mentioned above, Kishida's visit to the Middle East has achieved certain results, but Japan does not have the economic strength of the past, nor does it want to increase the sense of presence from the front.It is better to say that while conveying "what Japanese power can do", we realize cooperation while realizing the differences with the United States or China.How to reflect the results of this visit must be continuously verified in the future.
The author is a professor at the University of Tokyo
