久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Opinion
Home / Opinion / Op-Ed Contributors

Tokyo-Seoul trade spat adds uncertainty to global economy

By Liang Yunxiang | China Daily | Updated: 2019-08-17 08:34
Share
Share - WeChat
ROK President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook wave the national flags during a ceremony to mark the 74th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 rule, at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan, Republic of Korea, on Thursday. Jung Yeon-Je via Reuters

Japan and the Republic of Korea, two major economies in Northeast Asia, are locked in a trade conflict. Just one month after the G20 Summit in Osaka, which laid emphasis on global economic development and free trade, the Japanese government announced the removal of the ROK from its "white list" that accords trading partners preferential exports treatment.

In a tit-for-tat, Seoul said on Monday it has decided to remove Tokyo from its own "white list", further straining the already faltering Japan-ROK relations.

In some sense, postwar Japan has always held dear free trade, which is critical to a country built upon trade. Japan and the ROK, both key allies of the United States in East Asia, have similar or the same security interests. Thus despite the frequent discords over history between the two neighbors, they have largely maintained close economic ties and cooperation.

Against this background, it seems a bit baffling that Japan made such a move on the heels of the G20 Summit which promoted free trade. Yet the conflict between the two sides didn't crop up in a day; it is the result of accumulated long-term and irreconcilable contradictions. Even though Japan has ostensibly tightened its export management vis-à-vis the ROK in the name of national security, it is history and the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue that have prompted the high-tech power to try to choke the ROK.

Nearly all conflicts between Tokyo and Seoul are related to wartime history, and there has never been a time when they appeared to be in a position to comprehensively resolve them. In particular, the issue of "comfort women"-women and girls who were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II-has repeatedly pitched the two countries against each other.

The Shinzo Abe administration holds that compensation has already been paid to the "comfort women", which, people in the ROK say, is not correct.

Besides, a court in Seoul recently ordered some Japanese enterprises to pay damages and apologize for using forced labor during the Japanese occupation of Korea.

Speaking of the peninsula nuclear issue, Tokyo and Seoul share common interests and collaborate on the security front under US mediation. They also have an intelligence sharing pact.

But Japan was almost marginalized in the process that eased tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and helped the leaders of the US and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to hold three meetings. Surprisingly, the Japan-ROK conflict spread to the security field, too, as Japan believes the ROK has overlooked Japan's role in the peace process. For instance, Seoul is mulling scrapping the intelligence sharing pact. Moreover, Washington's efforts to invite Japan Self-Defense Forces to join the UN troops deployed in the ROK have met with strong opposition from Seoul.

These issues have infuriated both the Japanese government and public, prompting the Abe administration to punish the ROK, especially because many ROK companies depend heavily on Japanese high-tech products. Japan's message is that the ROK should not allow strong anti-Japanese sentiments to continue and ignore Japan's importance to the peninsula nuclear issue while benefiting from the Japanese economy.

Yet Tokyo's strategy may not bring Seoul to its knees. Instead, it could intensify anti-Japanese sentiments in the ROK. The deteriorating bilateral relations could impair both economies, although Japan, being stronger and occupying a higher position in the industrial chain, may suffer less than the ROK.

And the reduced economic and security cooperation between Japan and the ROK could have a negative impact on the overall economic development of East Asia, even the whole world. Which will bode ill for the development of trade in the region and add more uncertainty to the already dim global economic prospects in the face of China-US trade spat.

However, a military confrontation between Tokyo and Seoul is unlikely, because their security cooperation has weakened due to mutual aversion, not a clash of real interests. And the fact that any security crisis on the Korean Peninsula or in East Asia will prompt both Tokyo and Seoul to act to safeguard their common interests means the two sides are highly unlikely to engage in a military confrontation.

The author is a professor at the School of International Studies, Peking University. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲成在人线久久综合 | 日本精品视频一视频高清 | 国产一区二区三区不卡在线观看 | 那种视频在线观看 | 一区二区三区日韩 | 午夜国产精品久久久久 | 国产亚洲综合久久 | 99国产精品视频免费观看 | 亚洲国产成人在人网站天堂 | 国产日产欧美精品一区二区三区 | 日本wwwwwwwww| 国产高清亚洲 | 日本视频在线观看不卡高清免费 | 欧美国一级毛片片aa | 欧美专区视频 | 国产原创91| 美女国产在线观看免费观看 | 中文字幕一区二区三区在线观看 | 成人黄色一级片 | 国产成人精品亚洲日本语音 | 奇米色88欧美一区二区 | 国产精品青草久久久久福利99 | 国产精品吹潮在线播放 | 国产成人一区二区三区影院免费 | 国产伦久视频免费观看 视频 | 精品无码久久久久国产 | 免费一级毛片麻豆精品 | 精品少妇一区二区三区视频 | 在线欧美不卡 | 美女很黄很黄免费的 | 欧美大片在线播放 | 女人张开腿让男人桶免费最新 | 国内自拍第1页 | 国产成人亚洲毛片 | 在线观看精品视频网站www | 男操美女| 91亚洲自偷手机在线观看 | 国产美女操 | 亚洲影视一区二区 | 国产三香港三韩国三级不卡 | 国产真实乱子伦精品视手机观看 |