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Japan Relations with Other Countries
Japan has diplomatic relations with nearly all
independent
nations and has been an active member of the UN since
December
1956. Its relations with countries other than those
discussed
earlier are mainly commercial and economic. It has few
major
political differences with any of them but is under
continuing
pressure from many to limit its exports and to remove
restrictions
imposed on the import of foreign goods and capital. It is
also
being pressed to contribute more to the socioeconomic
betterment of
the developing nations.
During the 1970s, the government took positive measures
to
increase its Official Development Assistance (ODA) to
developing
countries and to contribute to the stabilization of the
international trade and monetary system. These measures
were
generally welcomed abroad, although some countries felt
that the
steps taken were not executed as rapidly or were not as
extensive
as similar efforts by some other advanced industrialized
nations.
Japan's ODA increased tenfold during the decade and stood
at US$3.3
billion in 1980, but this ODA as a percentage of GNP was
still
below the average of other donor countries.
In the 1980s, Japan's ODA continued to rise rapidly.
ODA net
disbursements, in nominal terms, averaged around US$3
billion per
year in the early 1980s and then jumped to US$5.6 billion
in 1986
and US$9.1 billion in 1990. Japan's share of total
disbursements
from major aid donors also grew significantly, from nearly
11.8
percent in 1979 to about 15 percent in the mid-1980s, and
later to
more than 19 percent in 1989 dropping back to under 17
percent in
1990. Japan's ODA as a percentage of its GNP, however, did
not
increase substantially during the 1980s, remaining at
about 0.3
percent.
Japan continued to concentrate its economic assistance
in Asia
(about 60 percent of total commitments in 1990),
reflecting its
historical and economic ties to the region. Japan made
modest
increases in aid to Africa with the announcement in 1989
of a
US$600 million grant program for the next three years. In
1990,
Japan also pledged large amounts of assistance to Eastern
Europe,
but most of that aid was to be in the form of market rate
credits
and investment insurance, which did not qualify as ODA. In
other
regions, Japan appeared likely to continue allocating
relatively
small shares of assistance. Nevertheless, by 1987 Japan
had become
the largest bilateral donor in twenty-nine countries,
nearly double
the number in which that had been the case ten years
earlier.
The continued growth of Japan's foreign aid appears to
be
motivated by two fundamental factors. First, Japanese
policy is
aimed at assuming international responsibilities
commensurate with
its position as a global economic power. Second, many
believed, the
growing Japanese foreign aid program comes largely in
response to
pressure from the United States and other allies for Japan
to take
on a greater share of the financial burdens in support of
shared
security, political, and economic interests.
Although cultural and noneconomic ties with Western
Europe grew
significantly during the 1980s, the economic nexus
remained by far
the most important element of Japanese-West European
relations
throughout the decade. Events in West European relations,
as well
as political, economic, or even military matters, were
topics of
concern to most Japanese commentators because of the
immediate
implications for Japan. The major issues centered on the
effect of
the coming West European economic unification on Japan's
trade,
investment, and other opportunities in Western Europe.
Some West
European leaders were anxious to restrict Japanese access
to the
newly integrated European Union (until November 1993, the
European
Community), but others appeared open to Japanese trade and
investment. In partial response to the strengthening
economic ties
among nations in Western Europe and to the United
States-Canada-
Mexico North American Free Trade Agreement, Japan and
other
countries along the Asia-Pacific rim began moving in the
late 1980s
toward greater economic cooperation.
On July 18, 1991, after several months of difficult
negotiations, Prime Minister Kaifu signed a joint
statement with
the Dutch prime minister and head of the European
Community
Council, Ruud Lubbers, and with the European Commission
president,
Jacques Delors, pledging closer Japanese-European
Community
consultations on foreign relations, scientific and
technological
cooperation, assistance to developing countries, and
efforts to
reduce trade conflicts. Japanese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs
officials hoped that this agreement would help to broaden
JapaneseEuropean Community political links and raise them above
the narrow
confines of trade disputes.
Data as of January 1994
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