Japanese Experts Call for Measures against Economic Coercion

Tokyo, Aug. 5 (Jiji Press)–Experts have called on the Japanese government to consider countermeasures against economic coercion, apparently having China in mind. At Tuesday’s meeting of an expert panel on the government’s plan to update its three key security-related documents by year-end, Kazuto Suzuki, professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy, cited the European Union’s Anti-Coercion Instrument and said that Japan “needs to consider establishing a legal framework” for a similar measure. University of Tsukuba professor Atsuko Higashino agreed, saying that the ACI is “a good reference” for Japan. “The seriousness of China’s economic coercion is not shared among the Japanese public,” she said, expressing a sense of crisis. The ACI imposes sanctions on financial and digital services of a country using economic coercion. Keio University professor Yuichi Hosoya underscored the need for Japan to work with like-minded countries and proposed a concept called “collective economic security.” Meanwhile, Noriko Endo, professor at Waseda University, sought a careful consideration. Unlike in the EU, which has 27 member countries, an initiative such as the ACI could be ineffective if it is implemented only by Japan, she said. The expert panel is headed by former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Kenichiro Sasae. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]