【Opinion】 Japan’s position on the United States and rice (Aug. 9, 2016)

[By Masaru Yamada, The Japan Agricultural News Special Senior Writer]

Several Chinese coast guard ships have entered Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands since last week, and Japan’s Foreign Ministry has lodged protests with the Chinese government by summoning Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua.

In diplomatic relations, whenever some party makes a false argument or a wrong move, the basic rule is to put forth a counterargument and claim they are factually inaccurate. If it was between individuals, it might be alright to act like an adult and remain silent, but that shouldn’t be the case when it comes to business or diplomacy. If you don’t make counterarguments immediately, the counterpart’s claims would take hold in the international community and become the established theory. This is why the Japanese government keeps making protests, condemning China’s actions as unacceptable.

However, the Japanese government has been making puzzling moves concerning the United States’ policies on Japan’s rice market. The United States International Trade Commission’s report released in May noted that there are “a number of expected Japanese commitments” which are “not documented in the official TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) agreement text or corresponding side letter.” It said Japan had secretly committed to setting up a quota specifically guaranteed to the U.S. If that is true, it would go against international trade rules which promote non-discrimination obligations among countries, and would be a shame to the international community.

Hiroshi Moriyama, agriculture minister at the time of the release of the report, told a press conference held immediately afterwards that no such commitment has been made. But strangely enough, there has been no evidence of the Japanese government making protests against the U.S. regarding the commission’s report.

If the U.S. government’s claim was wrong, the Japanese government could and should have called the U.S. Ambassador to Japan and said the commission’s report was inaccurate. The agriculture ministry claims that it has made necessary reactions through appropriate diplomatic channels, but such actions apparently had no impact whatsoever on the international community to correct the error made by the U.S.

Japan does not hesitate to lodge a protest with the Chinese government, but why can’t it do the same with the U.S.? Is it because the U.S. is Japan’s ally? Or is it because Japan really has made a secret commitment to secure a certain U.S. share in Japan’s rice market? Or is it both? All the under-the-table negotiations between Japan and the U.S. regarding rice never get uncovered.

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