We strongly protest and denounce Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s announcement to join the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) talks. The announcement is an outrage against public sentiment and it is clearly against his campaign promise. The TPP is an agreement which undoubtedly goes against Japan’s national interest and could lead to collapsing of the nation’s system, and proceeding with the talks in such a forceful and uncertain way is equivalent to an abandonment of national sovereignty. It is extremely regrettable that the government has rushed into making a decision on the issue related to the nation’s fundamentals without any disclosure of the decision making process or enough national debate on the issue, and the government will definitely lose the confidence of its people. Participating in the TPP talks is an act of treachery which cannot be justified in any way. Abe should ask the Japanese people whether they really approve of this decision and follow him. Many attentive farmers and consumers are in the midst of disappointment and anger. Their thoughts are represented by a farmer who commented that he “counted on the Democratic Party of Japan and was betrayed, and then turned to the Liberal Democratic Party and was tricked.”
We should not give up however. Our long struggle to resist entering the TPP negotiations has only begun. In the process of Japan’s participation, including pre-negotiations, prior approval by other TPP members and actually taking its place in the round of talks, the actualities of this unfair pact, which obviously go against Japan’s interests, will be unveiled. It will also become clear that it will be far too late for Japan to negotiate any exemptions. If the government cannot secure the interests of the nation which the Liberal Democratic Party has promised and resolved, it should withdraw from the pact because the agreement will not be ratified by the Diet.
The TPP forces us to confront three crises. First, there is the danger of losing the national sovereignty. The true nature of TPP is to realize an economic hegemony by a handful of global enterprises by spreading U.S.-standard deregulation and eliminating tariffs. It also introduces a mechanism that enables global enterprises to bring suit against the government of the country they invest in. It is a mechanism of “dominance by the top 1%” which enables global enterprises steeped in covetous neoliberalism and “make money with money” capitalism capture wealth across national borders.
To create an exclusive economic zone led by the United States in the Asia-Pacific area can also mean building an anti-China bloc, a possible threat for the region. It is a world ruled by market competition principles, the world where the fittest survives, the world which goes against the World Trade Organization’s principles of freedom, non-discrimination and reciprocity.
The second danger is that the people’s lives will be at risk by the infringement of the sovereignty. Abandoning tariff autonomy will lead to the decline of primary industries and disintegration of local communities, ultimately ruining the people’s spiritual mind and ties. Safety nets which support the people’s everyday lives, such as food safety standards, the national insurance system, mutual aid services, labor and intellectual property rights, will be exposed to excessive competition. The most extreme are the investor-state dispute settlement (ISD) clauses. After joining the TPP, Japan will surely experience what happened to Korea after it signed a free trade agreement with the United States.
The last danger is the mass media. Many of the Japanese mass media, which should be the ones to report the “inconvenient truth,” unquestioningly accepted the pro-TPP opinions of the government and business circles and played a part in creating public opinion for the TPP. In some cases, the mass media stirred up friction between farmers and manufacturing industries, and in other cases, spread optimistic views that it is possible for the government to win exemptions in the key areas. The major Japanese mass media firms have consistently distributed the illusion that free trade is the source of economic growth.
We will never forget 3.15. It has become the day to begin our struggle to protect our country. Let us work together to reinforce and expand the campaign against the TPP.
(March 16, 2013)