[Title] Working towards "the Pacific Future Community", Address by H.E. Mr. Tadashi Kuranari, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan (Kuranari Doctrine)
Your Excellency,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to have the privilege of outlining to you here in Fiji some of my thoughts on the future of the island states of the Pacific.
It was in 1961 that I visited Fiji for the first time. Fiji and most of the other peoples in the Pacific were then moving towards independence, and I was profoundly impressed by the eagerness with which they desired to be self-reliant. Seeing at first hand its peaceful and undisturbed life, I felt very strongly that the Pacific should be allowed to remain the peaceful sea that its name suggests.
Since then, the island nations in the Pacific have, generally speaking, attained their independence in peace, and have concentrated their energies on nation-building. Despite the sometimes turbulent character of the international environment, they have worked for peace and stability, and as new members of the community of nations, have made their own contribution to the development of international order.
The community of the Pacific island states has grown in number and geographical size, extending to both sides of the Equator. What we now call "the Pacific Island Region" has in recent years achieved significant political and economic coherence. This development is most desirable for the peace and prosperity of the whole region of the Pacific Ocean, and Japan certainly welcomes it.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The history of the migration of peoples in the Pacific is a stirring one. In ancient times, when we knew nothing of modern navigation or ship construction, our ancestors, undaunted by the vastness of the ocean, gradually challenged and conquered it.
Early in the 16th Century, Magellan, the first European to sail westward through the straits at the southern tip of the American continent, named the sea which he entered the Pacific Ocean. In the following years, travellers spread over the Ocean, engaging in commerce and stimulating the exchange of ideas. In those days this demanded an enormous spirit of adventure and high courage.
In the last four centuries, however, the remarkable development of science and technology has drastically changed the situation. The pace of change has been particularly rapid in the last 25 years. The development of various means of transportation and communication for example, supersonic jet aircraft and telecommunication satellites -- means that mankind now takes for granted previously undreamt-of speeds and virtually instantaneous communication.
In the Pacific Region, the ocean that formerly hindered communication between peoples has become a highway for commerce and the exchange of information among peoples. The countries of this region are becoming increasingly interdependent and are also enjoying closer relations with countries far distant. This means that they benefit from the world-wide development of human civilization, but also that they become involved in the turbulence of the international economy and international politics.
Amidst these changes, the South Pacific Forum has called upon Japan to strengthen dialogue with this organization. The call came soon after I became Foreign Minister, and this has impelled me to revisit this region so that I can learn directly of the aspirations of these nations in their present circumstances.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I should, next, like to outline Japan's basic frame of reference in devising our policies vis-รก-vis the Pacific island nations. Let me, first, refer to our geographical and historical relationship. Japan, an Asia-Pacific country, has a long history of relations with the region. Part of that history is, one knows, the tragic experience of the Second World War. Let me assure you that Japan is resolutely committed to peace, to not becoming a military power; and that its central foreign policy focus is the promotion of friendly and cooperative relations with other countries, particularly neighbouring countries. In effect, Japan has sought a post-war new deal. It realizes that it cannot be indifferent to the problems facing the Pacific island nations in the region it belongs to and therefore seeks, in a spirit of neighbourly friendship and open-mindedness, to work with them in contributing to their development.
This frame of reference has, of course, its political dimension. Japan is an industrial democracy, and, with the other like-minded nations, has important responsibilities in contributing to the solving of problems which require global remedies. In the area of security, for example, an approach based on a global vision is essential. It is clear that it will become increasingly necessary, not only for Japan but for the Western nations as a whole, to look at the importance of the peace of the Pacific in a world-wide context; and also that the international community will be paying more and more attention to this region.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Working within the framework I have outlined, I should like to take advantage of this opportunity today to say something of our basic thinking on the development of our relations with the Pacific island states.
First, Japan will take every care, in promoting bilateral relations, not to encroach on independence or hamper autonomous initiatives, whatever the size of its partner in the Pacific island region.
Recently in Micronesia, where the achievement of self-government has long been the goal of their efforts, steps are being taken to promote this in a relationship of free association with the United States. It is a gratifying development and Japan heartily welcomes it. Japan will continue to strenghten the ties with this area.
Secondly, Japan, a country of the Asia-Pacific community, will support and assist existing arrangements for regional cooperation among the island states.
This cooperation has been based upon the traditional values of the region known, very appropriately, as the "Pacific Way". It has already borne very encouraging fruit and those participating can now speak with one voice in the international' community, particularly through the South Pacific Forum.
Japan fully recognizes the political significance that the South Pacific Forum bears, and I would like to announce today, as one expression of Japan's desire to respond adequately to this regional spirit, that Japan will invite the Head of [State or] Government of the chair-country of the south Pacific Forum and the Director of the SPEC to visit Japan, either immediately before or after the annual meeting of the Forum. We shall be doing this as one response to the Forum's request for strengthening of its dialogue with Japan.
Thirdly, Japan will do its utmost to assist in preserving the political stability of the Pacific island region.
However much one may wish it were otherwise, peace and stability cannot be maintained without adequate thought being given to global security considerations. This principle does not allow of any exception for the Pacific region, despite its being geographcially far from the world's areas of heightened tension. Japan has the very highest regard for the initiatives and efforts of the peace-loving island states of the Pacific to maintain peace and stability and cannot support the introduction of new tension into this peaceful and untroubled region, particularly the South Pacific.
Fourthly, Japan will provide as much assistance as possible to make the region economically more prosperous. Japan intends to expand its economic cooperation and to review cooperation modalities in order that their effectiveness may be enhanced. Most of the Pacific island states are faced with one or more factors making for a fragi1e economy: lack of resources, dependence on a single crop for export income and lack of the advantages of economies of scale. They are, however, making determined efforts to overcome these problems and to build solid foundations for future development.
I feel the most profound respect for the way in which so many peoples, scattered over this vast Ocean and each facing its own particular difficulties, are working together towards a better life for their children and future generations. Japan intends to do its utmost to assist those endeavours. Japan's assistance to the Pacific island states has grown five times in the last 10 years, but I have ordered a study of ways to expand Japan's cooperation yet further and to accelerate Japan's contribution to the development of this region. For this purpose, I shall be sending a government survey mission to this region within the present fiscal year, that is, before the end of March, 1987, to formulate new guidelines for future bilateral assistance.
I am pleased to be able to announce also that, subject to Diet approval, Japan intends to subscribe two million US dollars for the establishment of a special fund for Pacific island states, to be part of the United Nations Development Programme, to help promote the development of those countries in harmony with the interests of the region as a whole.in various fields, among them transportation and telecommunications. Furthermore, I believe that we should consider the development of technology which utilizes nature itself, which is the precious resource of the island nations. Accordingly, Japan intends to contribute one million dollars in the next fiscal year, again subject to Diet approval, to the project, "Open Cycle Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion" at the Pacific International Centre for High Technology Research in Hawaii. We hope that such increased assitance, along with assistance from other countries and with coordination at the SPEC, will make a very significant contribution to the development of the whole region.
Fifthly, Japan values highly face-to-face contacts among nations. In preserving the spirit of good neighbourhood into the 21st Century, we must promote mutual understanding among the Pacific communities. Special emphasis will be placed on exchanges between young people, particularly with those who will later play a central role in the nation-building of the Pacific island states. It goes without saying that development of a nation's human resources - the men and women who must undertake the task of nation-building - is of fundamental importance to development. More than 130 junior leaders, opinion leaders, media people, technical trainees and others of those who will bear the future of the island states on their shoulders have already been invited this fiscal year to Japan for study, training and so on. I am happy to say that these programmes are highly regarded by the Pacific island nations. Starting in the present fiscal year, Japan is inviting youths through the Friendship Program For the Twenty-First Century from Papua New Guinea and Fiji. we intend to expand this. cooperation further and to promote exchanges of people at all levels.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is frequently said that the twenty-first century will be the century of the Pacific Ocean. The prelude to that new age has, indeed, already begun. The countries in the Pacific are deepening their exchanges so as to strengthen the relations among them. Already in the Pacific Ocean, we witness heavy traffic of super-tankers and jumbo-jets, which are the fruits of modern technology. Above the sky are the satellites, hundreds of them, enabling on-line broadcasting of television programmes as well as communications among people. Hitherto untapped marine resources are now within mankind's reach. The flow of people, goods and information has been unleashed through technological innovation like so many tides and currents, meeting and parting, parting and meeting. All of these factors provide the vitality for the development of this vast community. The surge of information, in particular, will undoubtedly become a vital element in the future building of this region.
I share the hope stressed by Prime Miniter Nakasone during his visit to this region two years ago, that the assistance provided to the peoples of the Pacific region will encourage them in their historic task of nation-building, I can assure them that Japan will continue to give them the utmost possible cooperation in dealing with the great changes which they face.
I hope most ardently that the Pacific island region may remain forever as peaceful as it was when I visited it for the first time a quarter of a century ago. I also hope that in developing their natural and human resources, the peoples of this region will preserve such universal values as their warm hospitality to outsiders; and that the natural beauties of their islands in the emerald sea will remain undiminished. I trust that the South Pacific will continue to be for mankind a place to which one can always turn for refreshment and spiritual sustenance. Are development and conservation incompatible opposites? I do not think so. Surely mankind has wisdom enough to attain both.
We, who are of the Pacific, shall set to work, helping one another, in this difficult but very meaningful task of building "the Pacific future community".
Thank you.