The Damage Control Begins in Earnest : Tokyo needs a foreign policy deserving of such a major industrial power

The Persian Gulf crisis presented Tokyo with an opportunity to unveil a new face to modern Japan. It lost face instead. Tokyo ended up with a self-inflicted black eye as it stumbled its way through fulfilling ill-defined global responsibilities. Even as the war ended, Tokyo was still debating its latest pledge to the Gulf multinational forces. Tokyo’s place in the “new world order” is in flux.

In failing to assertively move off the sidelines in the crisis, Tokyo itself cast doubts on its willingness to assume a role commensurate with its immense wealth. As its preferred contribution, it substituted money for people, on the grounds that its constitution prohibited troops overseas. Germany, too, is under similar constraints but it somehow managed to establish more of a presence.

Meanwhile, Tokyo moved slowly, often reluctantly, so that events in the Gulf sometimes overcame its feeble policy-making efforts. Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu wasted so much time with domestic political infighting that Tokyo’s most recent pledge of $9 billion to the multinational forces in the Gulf did not get the final approval from Parliament until Wednesday. That was seven days after the fighting ceased. To make matters worse, the actual amount may fall short of the promised dollars. Parliament approved an appropriation of 1.17 trillion yen, based on an exchange rate of 130 yen to the dollar. But on Friday the yen closed on the Tokyo Foreign Exchange rate at 136.30, making the yen pledge worth about $8.58 billion.

In an effort to show that Tokyo contributed more than mere dollars, the Foreign Ministry disclosed that the Japanese Embassy in Kuwait had given refuge to 16 American diplomats and their families shortly after Kuwait’s invasion. The ministry refrained from telling this story of the secret role for fear that publicity might lead to reprisals against Japanese citizens then held in Kuwait.

Tokyo is working on other efforts at damage control. Japanese companies are being urged not to aggressively pursue contracts to rebuild Kuwait so that U.S. and European companies get most of the work. Various scenarios for Japan’s role in Kuwait’s reconstruction are beginning to surface. There is even some talk of another bill, similar to one that died last year in the Diet. It would provide for the use of Japanese personnel in U. N. peacekeeping efforts.

The Gulf was a coming of age for Tokyo. The challenge now is for Tokyo to fully mature so that it can have a foreign policy deserving of such a major industrial power.