The Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, defended Friday (29) the alliance between his country, the United States, India and Australia against China, aimed at promoting “a free Indo-Pacific”.
During a virtual session of the World Economic Forum, Suga said that relations with the United States, the center of Japanese foreign policy since the defeat of World War II in 1945, remain the “axis of diplomacy” of the United States. country.
Suga took office after the long reign of Shinzo Abe, who left office last September for health reasons. During his first participation in the so-called forum of the rich and the relevant, which normally takes place in Davos (Switzerland), he categorically defended the policy of confrontation with China.
At the same time, he said Tokyo would seek “stable relations with neighbors, such as China and Russia.” With this, he maintains Abe’s policy, which has led to sensitive discussions in the country about his rearmament.
The alliance between the four countries against Beijing is unofficially called Quad, a reference to the English abbreviation of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, an entity which was reactivated by President Donald Trump in 2017.
Last October, Suga hosted one of the most relevant group meetings in Tokyo, but with more measured rhetoric.
Today, with the change of government in the United States and the inauguration of Democrat Joe Biden last week, he has decided to give a public message about what he expects from Washington and its allies.
China has previously referred to the Quad as the Asian version of NATO, the US-led military alliance to contain the Soviet Union and which survives by targeting Russia.
The rhetoric of freedom in the Indian and Pacific Oceans is at the heart of the group, which challenges Beijing’s claims on the region’s sea routes, vital to its economy, such as in the South China Sea.
Suga also reaffirmed that Japan will host the Olympics in its capital, which were postponed until last year in June due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The event will be a test of “courage and hope”, the prime minister said.
“We will host the Olympic Games, which will be a symbol of unity in the world,” he said, in the face of growing doubts about health security for its achievement.
Suga, speaking with forum founder Klaus Schwab, argued for Japan’s approach to the Covid-19 crisis, which is tackling outbreaks of the disease in urban centers.
He recalled that bars and restaurants “are the places most exposed” to infection with the virus and said his country does not favor complete closure, but with restricted hours and operating rules.
The Prime Minister has promised to support, with 130 million dollars (707 million reais), the access of developing countries to vaccines against the coronavirus.
He said he was betting on a “post-corona order” in the world based on a “green and digital” economy. “We will be carbon neutral in 2050,” he said. He predicts his country will transition “to the cloud” within 5 years, and says a specific agency for this will be subordinate to his office.
“Despite Covid, Japan is committed to free trade,” he said, defending his country’s role in international regulation of 5G technology and has already spoken of the next step, 6G .