Schröder in Japan: Politics, not Business
December 8, 2004Against the background of an EU-China summit beginning Wednesday in the Hague, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been urging China to deepen its economic reforms.
"The example of structural reforms in eastern Germany after reunification shows that privatization can be successful," he said in Changchun at the tail end of an annual visit that focused on the two countries' growing trade ties.
China has become the EU's second largest trading partner, and the conference in the Hague is expected to be dominated by talk of ending Europe's 15-year-old arms embargo to China, a move supported by Berlin.
Schröder flew on to Tokyo Wednesday, where he'll be meeting Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to discuss economic relations and Germany and Japan's common interest in permanent seats on the UN Security Council. An audience with Japanese Emperor Akihito is also on the agenda.
Demoted to second favourite
Relations between Japan and Germany, the world's second and third largest economies, are friendly, if reserved. While Schröder has visited China six times in the last six years, Wednesday's trip marks just his second official visit to Japan since becoming chancellor in 1998.
Now that German business is booming in China, with trade set to double by 2010, the country has overtaken Japan as Germany's main Asian trading partner. Since arriving in Beijing Monday, Schröder signed business contracts worth €1.4 billion ($1.9 billion) -- but he won't be getting the same red carpet treatment from Japan's business community.
Less economics, more politics
Chancellor Schröder's agenda in Japan will be less about economics and more about politics.
While Berlin has stood firm on its non-participatory stance in Iraq, Tokyo has sent troops to as part of the reconstruction effort. After all, with the threat of neighboring North Korea on its doorstep, Japan is keen to cultivate the US as a political ally.
What the two countries do share, however, is an interest in the UN's upcoming reforms. Together with Brazil and India, Germany and Japan recently launched a joint bid for permanent seats on the UN Security Council.
Tokyo, which would like to see the body extended to 24 members with veto rights, is confident of acceptance -- especially given that Japan pays more money into the UN coffers than any nation except the US. Moreover, Asia is under-represented on the Security Council and Tokyo enjoys a close relationship with Washington.
Concern over North Korea is one of Japan's chief reasons for pushing for greater influence in the UN, where so far, it has been excluded from negotiations on the secret state's controversial nuclear program -- unlike permanent Security Council member China, North Korea's most important partner.
Personal rapport
The issue will no doubt be the main topic of conversation when Schröder and Koizumi get together Thursday.
Politics aside, the two leaders have already proved they have a certain rapport. In 2002, they attended the Brazil-Germany match at the soccer World Cup in Yokohama, while the chancellor also invited his Japanese counterpart along to the Richard Wagner opera "Tannhäuser" in Bayreuth a year later.