Kato Koichi Official Site

Japan wants the United States to be a good international partner, both at the regional level and at the global level. What does it take to be a good partner? In short, we in Japan want the United States to be confident, consistent, and committed to consultation. Let me explain each of these:

First, Japan would like an America that is confident in its own values, confident in its role in the world, and confident in its key alliance partners. Our relationship with the United States is rooted in common interests and common values. We may disagree on tactics from time to time, but our basic interests are quite similar. For this reason, I am confident in the basic underpinnings of our relationship.

Second, Japan would like an America that is consistent in how it applies its principles to policies and actions. Unfortunately, we do not always see this. Let me give a few examples:

America has been inconsistent with its human rights agenda. Why, for example, is the US promoting a policy of engagement toward North Korea and moving just the other way in relations with Burma, or Myanmar, even though the latter is a more open and much less threatening country? I personally prefer the engagement policy, but I think whatever the policy, it should be as clear and consistently-applied as possible. Otherwise it loses its moral force and effectiveness.
America has been inconsistent in its relations with China US policy sometimes seems driven by human rights, other times by economic imperatives, and still other times by political grandstanding. We realize a major cause of these inconsistencies is US domestic politics, but we also think it is the task of the US Administration to set firm principles, establish clear policy goals, and give a high and sustained priority to foreign policy. The President of the United States, after all, is not just an American president but also a world leader. This has not changed despite the end of the cold war.

The third and final quality we would like to see in America is what I would call the spirit of consultation. No matter how powerful the United States is, it cannot establish the kind of world it wants without the support and collaboration of like-minded friends. We saw an excellent example of the benefits of such consultation in the recent South Korean, US, and Japanese policy cooperation toward North Korea which is producing real dividends.

Yet at other times, we feel the US has preferred to lecture us rather than listen to us. For example, during the recent Asian financial crisis, Japan proposed an Asian monetary fund to help those in distress but the United States rejected the idea outright leaving little room for discussion. Now I think there is better appreciation in the United States that an Asian fund would benefit the region and the global economy as a whole.

In sum, we consider the United States to be a good friend and needed partner in Asia. Most of us also welcome a leading US role. To be effective, however, partnerships must be based on mutual confidence, consistency, and consultation.

I am basically an optimist. While the region is changing in many ways that can cause social turmoil and political instability I am confident that we can overcome these and other challenges. The same is also true for ensuring the successful emergence of China as a major world power, which is perhaps our biggest challenge. In short, I firmly believe that Asia has a bright future.

My confidence is not based on blind optimism. If we compare the Asia of today with the Asia of 25 or even ten years ago, we know that Asia is moving in the right direction. We see much more democracy, even in countries that are not yet fully democratic. The region's growth is now being powered by market forces and not by paternalistic government. Internet usage is growing even more rapidly than in America and Europe, opening up new horizons for our young. Asian leaders know each other personally, and have several opportunities a year to meet together. Asia is also now making a real contribution to international peacekeeping.

For all these reasons, I think Asia already is one of three pillars of the modern world, and I think our contributions will become even more critical in the future.