Abe’s ‘Japan First’ slogan doesn’t gel with his TPP role

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been sending mixed messages these days. He told an audience in Tokyo on Wednesday that he was following a “Japan First” policy, a term that smacks of US President Donald Trump’s “America First” antiglobalization slogan.

To dilute the protectionist element in his slogan, Abe said Japan would pursue a path of global peace and prosperity.

After attending the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14-15, Toshihiro Nikai, the secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Japan should join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank “at an early stage”.

Subsequently, Abe said in a TV interview on Tuesday that Japan is still keeping a “careful” eye on the AIIB’s operations and might think of joining it if the issues over the bank’s governance are suitably resolved.

But he added: “We will continue to work closely with the United States.” Japan, along with the US, has shunned the AIIB, which opened for business in January 2016 and has 77 members.

In a letter to President Xi Jinping delivered by Nikai, Abe lauded China’s Belt and Road Initiative that aims for developing a big economic zone spanning Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, and expressed interest in discussing the initiative with Xi, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

If Japan, the largest economy in the US-less TPP agreement, wants to play a leading role in the negotiations and breathe fresh life into the pact, then Abe’s “Japan First” slogan ought to be an oxymoron.