The EU’s digital connectivity agenda in Southeast Asia and the benefits of coordination with Japan

This policy brief develops the argument for strengthening cooperation between the EU and Southeast Asia in the field of digital connectivity and considers the added value of working with Japan as a like-minded partner in this part of the Indo-Pacific. Coordinated action will serve the long-term interests of the EU, ASEAN and their member states, promoting economic competitiveness and inclusive growth, and resilience, openness and freedom in the digital realm. A future partnership should focus on: (1) digital infrastructure; (2) data governance and digital trade regulation; and (3) the digital economy and financial technologies (fintech). Improved synergies are needed with other key players in the region that share European concerns about creeping digital authoritarianism in order to make the most of the relatively limited funds and action that each actor can bring to the region. All three sides stand to benefit from greater coordination between the EU and Japan, the two preferred and most trusted strategic partners of ASEAN, to hedge against the uncertainties in the US-China strategic rivalry

China’s Rise and the Changing Rules of the Game in the International Order. CEPS Commentaries, 6 July 2009

Just as Europe once exported its own state system of international relations to the rest of the world, so too are Asian countries now reshaping the international system. The conditions for international relations are changing to the advantage of large countries with a strong state, and China plays an important role in this process. If the European Union wants to remain an influential player in the international order, it needs to make clear political-strategic choices

Japan's 'green' economic diplomacy: environmental and energy technology and foreign relations

The Japanese government and business sector have long seen opportunities in making environmental protection a core feature of industrial policy. The �green� economic diplomacy-effort, which materialized in the late 1980s and largely builds on targeted domestic innovation policies, is now entering new ground. Assessing recent developments in the railway, nuclear power generation, water, and next generation automobile industries, this paper analyses how and why the Japanese government uses �green� environmental and energy technology in relations with emerging and developed countries. Public-private partnerships are strengthened, and semi-governmental institutions and individual politicians take up new roles. Adhering to comprehensive security traditions, Japan�s policies aim to contribute to the national interest both in terms of economic prosperity and political stability. Primary objectives are the quest for new markets abroad, resources security, and securing cooperative relations with other countries. Adjustment to shifting global power balances, domestic politics, and climate change challenges also play a role, while �hard� security issues are barely considered

Troubled neighbours: Japan's negative economic diplomacy towards North Korea

The importance of economic issues, in a comprehensive multilateral and bilateral context, has been receiving increased attention in writings about the Korean Peninsula lately. This article adds to this debate by analysing Japan's relations with North Korea from an economic diplomacy perspective. The concept of 'negative economic diplomacy' is introduced to understand actions of the Japanese government, which had tried economic engagement in various ways until the early 1990s, but hardened its stance thereafter. Tokyo seems to have come to the conclusion that North Korean rulers are more willing to preserve the status quo than some wish to believe and, consequently, started to use the North Korean threat to justify Japan's controversial military enhancement in a context of uncertainty about the United States' commitment and an increasingly stronger China. is strategy was practised through a negative approach to economic diplomacy of withholding economic benefits-in policy fields ranging from the abductees and normalisation of diplomatic relations, to trade relations, sanctions and the six-way process. Japan's policy was most outspoken from late 2002 until at least mid-2007