Every Time It Tries, It Stumbles : Even a $9-billion ante won’t overcome Japan’s halting foreign policy

It could be that the Persian Gulf War will prove a defining moment for Japan, one that might bring this Asian nation to a quintessential reckoning with its modern self. It may also prove a defining moment for U.S.-Japanese relations.

Tokyo has confounded and angered friends and foes alike with its seemingly haphazard response to events in the gulf. But its gulf policy, or lack of one, has provided an unyieldingly stark view of the intricacies that make Japan at once so formidable economically and yet so lacking on some other fronts.

Tokyo has been much criticized and taunted for its gulf policy. It set off on a promising start only to lose its way. Early on, it backed the economic sanctions imposed against Iraq right after Kuwait’s invasion in August. It offered financial aid in lieu of troops, since it is constitutionally prohibited from sending its self-defense forces abroad. Then, in response to criticism, it doubled, to $2 billion, its financial backing of the multilateral effort.

But it seems that one big check is still in the mail: Less than half of that promised amount has been received. Then, when Japan offered an additional $2 billion in aid to front-line countries hard-hit by the trade sanctions, critics noted it was in the parsimonious form of low-interest loans. And when Tokyo tried to organize a volunteer medical team of 100 to send to the gulf, about two dozen Japanese signed up for duty.

Even the impressive $9-billion pledge, announced last week, was greeted with skepticism. No wonder. Before he can cut the check, Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu must first get approval from the Diet in order to raise the funds.

He also needs approval before he sends Japan’s promised defense transports to the gulf. He will probably get a fight. Recently the Diet’s strong opposition forced Kaifu to withdraw his bill to send troops to the region for noncombat duty.

The world has come to perceive Tokyo, one of the world’s seven major industrialized countries, as a Western power and mistakenly expects it to act accordingly. Often Tokyo baffles. That is indeed the case with the gulf. The resulting disappointment and disillusionment are likely to further erode increasingly contentious U.S.-Japan relations.

Japan is driven by a political system and bureaucracy that typically are not held to the same accountability as in Western countries. In foreign policy, its form has been far more impressive than its substance. The fallout from that may haunt Tokyo for some time to come.