Deepened relations with Japan
Scholz and Minister celebrate premiere in Tokyo
03/18/2023 10:51 am
Chancellor Scholz is taking six ministers with him to Japan. Both countries are swearing by close cooperation that is to be taken “to a new level” – on energy security and defense issues.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and several ministers from both sides met in Tokyo for the first German-Japanese intergovernmental consultations. At the start of the talks, Kishida said that this would take the already close relationship between the two countries “to a new level”. Scholz also spoke of a “sign of very good relationships”. “The government consultations will further advance our strategic cooperation, and they are a very important contribution to providing this close cooperation with a new impetus, which we want to achieve together.”
Scholz traveled to Tokyo with six of his most important ministers. Robert Habeck (Vice Chancellor and Economy), Annalena Baerbock (External), Christian Lindner (Finance), Nancy Faeser (Internal), Boris Pistorius (Defense) and Volker Wissing (Traffic). Government consultations – i.e. meetings of several cabinet members from both sides – are nothing new for the federal government. In the past, for example, they already existed with China, India, Brazil, Israel and, until 2012, also with Russia. In this way, relationships with partners who are already close or strategically important are further deepened. For Japan, these are the first government consultations ever.
The talks will focus on the topic of economic security. The main focus is on expanding international cooperation in order to reduce dependencies on individual economic powers, for example when it comes to importing raw materials. Germany wants to learn lessons from its former dependence on Russia for gas, which could only be broken after the Russian invasion of Ukraine through a tour de force.
Japan, which also imports raw materials on a large scale, has enacted its own law on economic security, which the federal government regards as exemplary. A separate ministerial post was also created for the priority topic. The meeting also deals with defense issues. The Bundeswehr has already sent a warship and fighter jets to the Pacific region to strengthen cooperation with friendly armed forces there. She wants to take part in exercises again this year.