French President Hollande welcomes Japanese P.M. Shinzo Abe on May 5, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe continues his serious charm offensive through Europe this week in an effort to boost Tokyo’s economic and strategic ties with the continent. Abe’s nine-day tour will culminate Wednesday in Brussels for a European summit, after visiting critical allies Germany, England, Portugal, Spain and France.
Key on the premier’s agenda is a major free trade deal, initiated last year, that would see Japan-Europe commerce grow to approximately 40% of the world’s trade — this after Tokyo and Washington failed to reach a similar partnership during President Barack Obama’s visit to Japan last week — and give credence to his pledge to make Japan “the best place in the world to do business.”
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Source: E.U. in Japan
Economics is not the only issue, however; security concerns are also dominating Abe’s European tour, piqued in part, speculates French daily Le Monde, by last year’s hostage crisis in In Amenas, Algeria, which saw ten Japanese citizens killed. Following Wednesday’s E.U.-Japanese summit, Tokyo is hoping to finalize pacts dealing with arms supply partnerships, cyber-security, nuclear energy and defense technologies like underwater drones.
The not-so-invisible player driving Abe’s outward–facing strategy — the premier, often lambasted by regional critics for his ardent nationalism, looks to be playing against type — is China. Here, Abe is on the counteroffensive, echoing a visit by China’s President Xi Jinping to Paris last month to bolster economic links, followed by a trip to Brussels. In addition to playing up Beijing’s transgressions — i.e., by not so subtly comparing the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands to Russia’s unilateral annexation of Crimea — Abe may also be attempting, however halfheartedly, to deflect criticisms over his visit to a controversial Japanese war shrine by visiting war monuments during his Europe tour.
Indeed, the premier has been unusually busy for a Japanese leader, visiting not only Europe, but also India and Australia (both cautious of China’s regional reach), and countries like resource-rich Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the past year and a half. On the strategic front, Tokyo has already secured Washington’s support, more or less, over its position vis-à-vis to the Senaku Islands. Now, Abe is seeking similar affirmation from European states. Notably France, where the Japanese leader met with top officials Monday to negotiate a deal on joint development of advanced defense systems, like the underwater drones cited above, as well as to urge the inclusion of a clause that would prevent Paris from selling said equipment to another party — i.e., China.
Yet when it comes to China-Japan tensions, France’s President François Hollande, is taking a more measured approach than his American counterpart, simply noting, “I hope for stability in the East China Sea,” on Monday. As for Beijing, the Asian heavyweight may still be one step ahead of its Japanese rival, expanding its reach to Africa this week, where Prime Minister Li Keqiang is on a four-country visit to Africa, starting with the headquarters of the African Union in Ethiopia, to bolster economic, cultural and technical ties. Once Abe wraps up his European tour, will a visit to Addis Ababa be next?
