Cues from Japan’s ‘balanced diplomacy’

LEE YOUNG-HEE
The author is a Tokyo correspondent of the JoongAng Ilbo.

Lately, I am closely watching Japan’s response to the crisis of Israel being attacked by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Japan was quick to keep up with the United States over the war in Ukraine, but it is responding quite differently to the Middle East crisis.

A day after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he “strongly condemns” the Hamas attack that killed civilians. But he added, “I demand all involved parties to show maximum restraint.” While Japan is the chair country of the Group of Seven (G7), it chose not to be included in the joint statement by the U.S. and the U.K. supporting Israel on Oct. 9.

Since then, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa has held a series of phone conversations with diplomatic officials from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iran, in addition to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Prime Minister Kishida also spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Qatar’s monarch Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Sani and U.A.E. President Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the phone on Oct. 18 to discuss the situation. She announced that Japan would send a special envoy to the Middle East and provide emergency a humanitarian aid worth $10 million (13.5 billion won) to the Gaza strip even before the U.S. Japan has given itself the role of a “mediator” and is busy working to “strengthen relations with both parties to quickly deal with the situation.”

Behind this attitude, which the Japanese media calls “balance diplomacy,” is national interest. Japan imports 94 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East, as of last year. Stability of the region is directly related to the resource security of Japan, and therefore, “Japan has no choice but to have its own color on the Middle East issue, while alliance with the U.S. forms the basis,” according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

For this, Japan has worked hard to keep close ties with various Mideast countries for long. In 1977, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) opened its office in Tokyo, serving as the embassy, and in 1998, Japan’s Representative Office opened in Gaza and moved to Ramallah in 2007.

There is also pessimism about how much influence Japan’s mediation efforts can have in the Middle East, where China’s presence is growing. But during the turbulent international situation, Japanese diplomacy is in full swing to find a role as a major actor with national interest at the center.

It marks a sharp contrast with Korea which has been keeping its mouth shut after describing Hamas’ attack as “a serious terrorist act that clearly violates international humanitarian law” at the beginning of the conflict. A diplomatic expert said, “This is why Korea is still not enough to become a member of the G8.” That’s a point Korea can hardly overlook.