Japan eyes Central Asia

From the RFE/RL today:

Japan and four Central Asian countries held a one-day foreign ministerial meeting today in Tokyo, agreeing on an action plan for regional cooperation. The plan includes a call for improving border management to prevent the proliferation of terrorism and drugs. It also envisions a number of other initiatives. Observers believe Japan is trying to position itself as a new regional player but will other, more powerful regional power brokers let it achieve its purported ambitions?

Dubbed "Central Asia plus Japan Dialogue," today's meeting brought together the foreign ministers of Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
....
Yet, Swenson-Wright says Japan's willingness to seek a more active role in Central Asia is also motivated by specific geopolitical concerns.

"With the emergence of China as a major player Japan is increasingly concerned that it may be eclipsed, [that] it may see its own influence in the region to some extent challenged,"he said. "I suspect what we're seeing here is an effort on the part of the Japanese foreign-policy establishment -- particularly the Foreign Ministry -- to continue to underline the importance of taking Japan seriously [in the region] and see that its own interests are well represented."

It is still questionable whether China and the region's other major player -- Russia -- will let Japan have a greater say in Central Asian affairs.

This would certainly create an interesting dynamic in Central Asia. Russia obviously has interests in its former territories. China is making moves in Central Asia to secure energy resources. Through the SCO, Russia and China are making an effort to pull the region away from the US.

(To be sure, Russia and China also compete in Central Asia. I touched on that here. See also another article from RFE/RL.)

So, the involvement of Japan, perceived as a pro-US ally, will create some tension in the region.

Japan, too, wants to secure dependable energy supplies, which the Central Asian republics are providing in increasing volume.

In January, Russia said that a long-discussed pipeline would first supply China, not Japan was was once contemplated.

Also, China and Japan are jockeying for position in Africa, a race I would say China is winning.

Making friends in Central Asia might provide Japan with some needed allies on the energy front. For this reason, it will interesting to see what Russia and China to do block this.