Newsletter No. 684
News-Analysis
July 23, 2007

 

TOKYO AND TASHKENT TALK ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS

On the 18th there was a consultation between the foreign ministries of Japan and Uzbekistan which apparently focused on human rights issues. The Japanese delegation was led by Chikahito Harada, Director-General of the European Affairs Bureau, and the Uzbek side by Anvar Salikhbaov, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. The MOFA statement does not say where these talks were held, but my assumption was that they occurred at the Foreign Ministry building in Tokyo.

The statement notes that they “discussed Japan-Uzbekistan bilateral relations, international affairs, and the ‘Arc of Freedom and Prosperity,’ which Japan upholds as the new axis of its foreign policy. They also exchanged views on various issues concerning democratization and human rights.”

I suppose that this should be seen as a positive development. During then-Prime Minister Koizumi’s visit to Central Asia in August 2006 there was little public indication that he emphasized the issue of human rights while in Tashkent. His main comment was: “I hope our support will ultimately contribute to Uzbekistan’s democratization and the establishment of a market-based economy.” At the time, I was critical of this soft approach (see Shingetsu Newsletter No. 370).

Now that MOFA is promoting its “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity” as being the key to its “new foreign policy,” it is becoming harder for Tokyo to avoid these kinds of issues.

How substantial are these Japan-Uzbekistan human rights talks? Would Japan be downgrade its strategic relations with Uzbekistan in the future based solely on domestic human rights issues? None of this is yet clear.

For now, we’ll just have to agree to keep an eye on this issue.

AMBASSADOR KUSUMOTO MEETS WITH PRESIDENT KARIMOV

The Uzbek media has reported on a meeting between Japanese Ambassador Yuichi Kusumoto and Uzbek President Islam Karimov at his Oqsaroy residence on July 11th. These media reports said nothing about human rights, but instead laid stress on the bilateral “rapprochement” and business links.

The facts presented were that Japan has invested US$2 billion in Uzbekistan since the establishment of diplomatic relations and nine Uzbek-Japanese joint ventures current operate in this Central Asian country. The main players from the Japanese side were said to be JICA, JETRO, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Itochu, Sumitomo, Marubeni, NEC, and Toyota.

JAPANESE TRAINING FOR YOUNG UZBEK GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

On July 10th Ambassador Yuichi Kusumoto and Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Kasimov signed an agreement in Tashkent by which Tokyo will provide about US$3 million for Uzbekistan to send twenty young officials to Japan for training. According to MOFA, they “will be pursuing graduate degrees in Japan in such fields as public administration, economics, management, law, and information technologies.” The purpose is “to build human resources crucial for the nation's intellectual infrastructure build-up.”

The program is not new. Apparently Japan has been accepting twenty young Uzbek officials into its universities every year since FY1999.