By Clint Richards
The prospect of an upcoming tour this summer will see Japan attempt to increase its security profile.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering a Latin America tour this summer between late July and early August, according to government sources quoted by Kyodo News. The tour will include visits to Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and possibly either Peru or Colombia. The government source stated that the trip is intended to garner support for Japan’s bid to secure a nonpermanent seat on the U.N. Security Council next year.
The timing of the tour is advantageous for Abe as it will occur between Diet sessions, during which he is seeking to change Japan’s pacifist interpretation of Article 9 of the Constitution to include the right of collective self-defense. Even if Abe is unsuccessful in getting his Cabinet to agree to the new interpretation before the end of the Diet session in June, there will still theoretically be time before the Diet session in the fall. Securing Cabinet approval would be a boon to Abe before his tour, but the possibility of it still being on the table before the year’s end will underline Japan’s bid for the Security Council, as it seeks to define its own security identity.
Aside from security related matters, Abe will be visiting two or three potential members of a future Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Chile (which is a member of the TPP precursor Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement) Mexico and possibly Peru during his trip. He will likely raise the TPP with these relevant partners, yet events at home will dictate how strongly he can push for Japanese integration into the trade pact.
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