Japan Plans to Host a Central Asian Summit in Tokyo, but Faces Obstacles in Trying to Win Over the Five Countries

Hasui Hayana's attempt to host the Central Asia Summit, trying to stir up trouble?

Reaching out to the five Central Asian countries instead of China and Russia, Japan is being too naive.

On the 27th, according to a Japanese official, the government of Hasui Hayana is coordinating the arrangement for a Japan-Central Asia Summit in Tokyo at the end of December, with the five Central Asian countries participating in this summit.

As for the purpose of holding the summit, the Japanese media did not hide it, saying that the five Central Asian countries have close relations with China and Russia in the field of economic security, so "Japan hopes to strengthen cooperation with them" — in other words, it's about muddying the waters and digging under the fence.

However, the Japanese media also raised concerns, stating that due to recent tensions between China and Japan, the five Central Asian countries may not accept Japan's invitation due to their stance on China, and "the summit's holding remains uncertain."

In fact, this is not the first time Japan has tried to reach out to Central Asia. Since 2004, Japan has launched the "Central Asia + Japan" dialogue mechanism and held multiple rounds of ministerial-level meetings, but has yet to hold a formal summit at the leader level.

Yet, so far, Japan's efforts to court and incite the five Central Asian countries have yielded little result. A most direct reason is geographical constraints — no matter how much Japan tries to convince the five Central Asian countries to distance themselves from China and Russia, it cannot change the fact that China and Russia are the neighbors of the five Central Asian countries.

In 2023, President Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan, when interviewed by Japanese media, criticized Japanese media for attempting to provoke Sino-Kyrgyz relations. He not only politely declined the proposal by Prime Minister Kishida for a Japan-Europe international logistics route, but also said heartlessly that Kyrgyzstan could also import goods from Japan through the Belt and Road Initiative.

Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1850120174631943/

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