Japan’s Human Rights Diplomacy Stymied in Myanmar

SNA (Dallas) – Since the Myanmar coup last February, Japan has been under pressure to cut its links with the military regime. However, far more lies under the surface of this long-running bilateral relationship than many people perceive, making policy decisions quite complex.

Much of the political burden has fallen to individual businesses. For example, Eneos Holdings declared earlier this month its intention to withdraw from Myanmar, following the exits of other international companies. However, the statement Eneos put out curiously qualified its move by noting that “this withdrawal will be effective after approval from the Myanmar government.”

The company’s operations in Myanmar center around the Yetagun gas project, consisting of three offshore blocks that it obtained back in 1991.

While on one level it may seem a morally straightforward decision not to do business with a regime engaged in serious human rights abuses, it comes within a context in which Eneos is also losing access to Russian oil supplies, the result of sanctions imposed in connection to the invasion of Ukraine. As a result, there is a great deal of concern in Tokyo about sourcing oil and gas supplies.

Indeed, if the answer is a more complete dependence upon the Persian Gulf, then it’s not clear that this truly resolves human rights concerns.

Eneos is a member of the powerful Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), a lobby which remains interested in maintaining cordial links with Myanmar.

Another Keidanren member facing a similar dilemma is the beverage company Kirin, which also declared that it is exploring ways to withdraw from Myanmar, but at the same time alleges that remaining in the country would benefit the Myanmarese people. In Kirin’s case, its partnership is directly with a company affiliated to the Myanmar military.

Japan’s intimate links with Myanmar, however, are not confined to business connections, but also extend into diplomatic and strategic policies.

Notable in this regard is that even today a handful of young Myanmar military officers are present in Japan receiving training at the Defense Ministry.

This strategic connection has deep roots. From 1942-1945, the Imperial Japanese Army ruled the nation, formerly called Burma, and was involved in training its military from that time. Even after the war, friendly relations continued with Aung San and his successors, although by the 1980s Japan was starting to suspend aid due to the Burmese military’s violent suppression of pro-democracy demonstrators.

Still, the connection persisted, with the influential NGO Nippon Foundation serving as an important pipeline between the two governments.

In 1997, the Japanese government even defended the military regime against attempts by the Massachusetts Legislature to impose sanctions on companies that did business with the country.

Many analysts have pointed out that another factor making Tokyo very keen to keep good relations with the Myanmar junta is its concern about Chinese influence. The argument is that sanctioning the Myanmar regime will not cause it to collapse, but rather will serve only to push it into a deeper alliance with Beijing.

But in apparent contradiction with this stance, the Kishida administration itself has been promoting the notion that Japan is becoming more concerned with “human rights diplomacy.” This has been most clearly signaled by the appointment of former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani as the prime minister’s special advisor on human rights.

While Nakatani has devoted most of his attention to alleged human rights violations in China, he did state publicly in early March that “Japan expresses its concern that no action has been taken to improve the situation in Myanmar for one year after the coup d’etat.”

The connections between Japan and the Myanmar military have definitely put Tokyo, as well as major Japanese businesses, on a political hot seat, but at present it seems that the security policy framing present in virtually all interactions which Japan conducts with its neighboring countries will put these concerns–and not human rights–at the top of the agenda.

For breaking news, follow on Twitter @ShingetsuNews