Scholtz visits Japan to firm up monetary, defense ties

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are holding the 1st round of government consultations in Tokyo as they seek to strengthen monetary and defense ties

By

MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press

March 18, 2023, 5:35 AM ET

• 3 min study

TOKYO — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday held the 1st round of government consultations in Tokyo as they seek to strengthen monetary and defense ties in a worldwide landscape dominated by China’s expanding influence and the war in Ukraine.

Scholz brought six of his ministers for talks with Japanese counterparts to deepen cooperation in the economy and national security in the Indo-Pacific location, as appropriately as other worldwide issues such as China’s assertiveness in pressing its maritime territorial claims and its closer ties with Russia.

“I assume the government consultation will be a springboard to bring cooperation amongst Japan and Germany even closer,” Kishida stated in his opening remarks at the meeting. Kishida stated the concentrate of the talks is on monetary security, the Indo-Pacific location, Russia’s war on Ukraine and other mutual problems.

Germany has equivalent “government consultations” framework with a variety of nations. Of the 17 members of Scholtz’s Cabinet, six of them, such as economy, finance, foreign, interior, transport and defense ministers, are traveling with him.

The two defense ministers met separately and confirmed the German armed forces’ continued engagement in the Indo-Pacific location and stronger military cooperation amongst the two nations.

Japanese Defense Minster Yasukazu Hamada and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius agreed to coordinate closely in future regional deployments of the German military and step up joint workouts. They also agreed to seek a legal framework to facilitate enhanced joint defense activities, as appropriately as cooperation in defense gear and technologies, the Japanese Defense Ministry stated in a statement.

Japan, noting expanding threats from China and North Korea, has been expanding military cooperation beyond its principal ally, the United States, and has produced partnerships with Australia, Britain, European and Southeast Asian nations. Kishida’s government final year adopted a new national security tactic beneath which Japan is deploying lengthy-range cruise missiles to strengthen its strike-back capability, a most important break from the country’s postwar self-defense-only principle.

Scholtz visited Japan final year just just before going to China, generating a point of prioritizing Germany’s monetary ties with Tokyo much more than Beijing. Scholz is pushing to diversify Germany’s trade partners, although speaking out against a total decoupling from China.

Japan, along with the United States, is hunting for strategies to stand up to escalating Chinese monetary influence in the location. Tokyo also desires to reinforce monetary security with other democracies in areas such as give chains and the protection of sensitive technologies, apparently as a counter to China.

But Japan, which is a significant U.S. ally and a most important trade companion with China, is in a delicate situation and have to balance its position amongst the two superpowers.

For Germany, China was its greatest trading companion in 2021 for the sixth consecutive year, as firm ties have flourished even even though political relations have turned tense.

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Associated Press journalists Geir Moulson in Berlin, Haruka Nuga and Chisato Tanaka in Tokyo contributed to this report.