China Daily Weekly - 02.08.2019

ByPANMENGQIinBeijing

andWANGXUinTokyo

S

outh Korea and Japan are

at a boiling point, as the

two neighbors trade accusa-

tions and sanctions related

to unresolved issues left over from

WorldWarII.

Experts said the spat will impact

the stability of NortheastAsia and

bring more uncertainties to global

economicdevelopment.

The standoff between theAsian

neighbors arose from the decision

ofaSouthKoreancourttoallowvic-

tims of forced labor in the wartime

era to sue Japanese companies for

compensation. Tokyo says that all

such claims were settled in a 1965

treaty between the two countries.

Seoul believes a victim’s individual

righttofileaclaimhasnotexpired.

Last month, Japan announced

restrictions on exports to South

Koreaofthreechemicalcompounds

essential to the country’s vast semi-

conductorindustry.

Addingtotheexportcurbs,Japan

is also preparing to remove South

Korea from “trading white list” sta-

tus,whichmeansexportsentailmin-

imum trade restrictions, Japanese

mediareported.

ThemovewouldhitSouthKorea’s

pillar manufacturing industry very

hard. Even worse, analysts voiced

concern that Japan may take a turn

towardtradeprotectionism,despite

the world’s third-largest economy

portraying itself as a champion of

the rules-based international trade

order.

Although Japan has not explicitly

said the forced labor issue prompt-

ed its trade restrictions, by slapping

export restrictions on high-tech

itemscriticaltoSouthKoreanmanu-

facturing,theJapanesegovernment

is clearly showing it has taken the

economic approach to achieve a

political end, said Lyu Yaodong, a

researcher at the Institute of Japa-

neseStudiesoftheChineseAcademy

ofSocialSciences.

Japan and South Korea have a

similar industrial mix and compete

in a range of sectors as diverse as

steel,autos,LEDdisplaysanddigital

devices.

By leveraging colonial-era issues

to impose tariff barriers on South

Korea’s core industries, Japan is

bringingitspoliticalwilltoeconom-

iccompetition,Lyusaid.

“The labor issue is merely an

excuse for Japan to use trade sanc-

tions to retaliate against its com-

petitor. This not only reflects the

Japanese government’s protection-

istattitudetowardtrade,butalsoits

revisionistattitudetowardhistorical

issues,”headded.

ShiYongming,aseniorAsia-Pacif-

icstudiesresearcher,saidmaintain-

ing a “white list” in trade is against

the principles of free trade, proving

the fragility of the theories of “free

trade” that Japan has been advocat-

ing.

“The Japanese government can

decide who’s on the ‘white list’ and

who’s on the ‘black list’ at its will,

whichisnotinlinewithtradeliber-

alism,”Shiadded.

IfthetradeconflictbetweenTokyo

and Seoul continues to escalate,

SouthKoreanchipmakerscouldsee

a “disruption” in their supply, Rhyu

Sang-young, a professor of politi-

cal economy at Yonsei University

in Seoul, told South Korea’s Yonhap

NewsAgency.

Intheshortterm,theuncertainty

surroundingthesupplyofcomputer

chipswillpushpricesup.

“What’s worse, it will be nega-

tive for the global IT industry, as

South Korean semiconductor mak-

ers account for about 70 percent of

globalmemorymarketshare,”Rhyu

added.

Yuzo Tanaka, a professor of eco-

nomics at Ryukoku University in

Kyoto,saidTokyo’smovewill“result

inabrokenindustrialchainthatwill

force individual countries to pursue

self-sufficiency”.

Yuka Fukunaga, a social science

professor at Waseda University in

Tokyo, said: “It is regrettable that

Japan, a country which should be

critical of the US using trade mea-

surestoforcepolicychangeinother

countries,didthesamething(asthe

US).”

SouthKoreaislookingforwaysto

hitback.PresidentMoonJae-insaid

lastmonththathehopesforadiplo-

maticsolutiontotheproblem,butis

preparedtotakecountermeasuresif

Tokyoforceshishand.

Some analysts warned that the

confrontations may damage the

NortheastAsian region’s stability

anddevelopment.

Zhou Yongsheng, a professor and

deputydirectoroftheJapaneseStud-

iesCenter atChina ForeignAffairs

University,saiddeteriorationofrela-

tionswillhaveanegativeimpacton

theregion.

“Japan seems to follow a prec-

edent set by Washington, as it has

used the threat of tariffs to squeeze

concessionsfromitsalliesandtrade

partners,”Zhousaid.

It will deal a blow to the regional

economy and stability by hindering

the progress of the free trade agree-

ment betweenChina, Japan and

South Korea, especially when Seoul

is mulling countermeasures against

Tokyo,whichcouldworsenthesitu-

ation, and the US is not expected to

sincerely mediate between its two

allies,Zhouadded.

Contactthewritersat

[email protected]

StandoffreflectsJapan’sattitudetowardtradeandhistoricalissues,analystssay

Seoul-Tokyosp attoaffectstability

VIENNA— Diplomats from Iran

and five world powers recommit-

ted on July 28 to salvaging a major

nuclear deal signed in 2015, amid

mounting tensions between the

West and Teheran since the United

Stateswithdrewfromtheaccordand

reimposedsanctions.

RepresentativesofIran,Germany,

France,Britain,China, Russia and

the European Union met in Vienna

to discuss the JointComprehensive

Plan ofAction, or JCPOA, which

restricts the Iranian nuclear pro-

gram.

“The atmosphere was construc-

tive,andthediscussionsweregood,”

Iran’s top nuclear negotiatorAbbas

Araghchi told reporters after the

meetingended.

“I cannot say that we resolved

everything” but all the parties are

still “determined to save this deal”,

headded.

FuCong, who heads theChinese

delegation, said that while there

were “some tense moments” dur-

ing the meeting, “on the whole the

atmospherewasverygood.Friendly.

Anditwasveryprofessional”.

“I have two takeaway messages

from today’s meeting,” said Fu, also

director-general of the Department

ofArmsControl at theChinese For-

eign Ministry, at a news conference

followingthemeeting.

“First, all sides have expressed

their commitment to safeguard the

JCPOAand to continue to imple-

ment the JCPOAin an objective

manner,andabalancedmanner.”

“The second point I take away

from the meeting is that all sides

have expressed their strong oppo-

sition against the US’ unilateral

imposition of sanctions, especially

theextraterritorialapplicationofthe

sanctions, and they also expressed

support and appreciation ofChina’s

efforts to implement the JCPOA,in

particularChina’sefforttomaintain

normal trade and oil relations with

Iran,”Fusaid.

Both Fu andAraghchi said there

was a general agreement to orga-

nizeahigherlevelmeetingofforeign

ministerssoon, but also that prepa-

rationsforsuchasummitneededto

bedonewell.Adatehasnotbeenset.

Iran is pressuring the remaining

partiestothedealtooffsetthesanc-

tions US President Donald Trump

reinstated after withdrawing last

year. Iran recently surpassed the

uranium stockpile and enrichment

limits set out in the agreement, say-

ing the action could be reversed if

the other parties came up with eco-

nomicincentives.

So far, neither Iran’s announce-

ment that it exceeded the amount

of low-enriched uranium allowed

under the deal nor its revelation it

had begun enriching uranium past

the 3.67 percent purity allowed, to

4.5 percent, are seen as violations

likely to prompt the European par-

ties to invoke a dispute resolution

mechanism.

Both of Iran’s actions were veri-

fied by the United Nations’ nuclear

watchdog, the InternationalAtomic

EnergyAgency.

Iran is keen on the activation of

a barter-type system set up by the

Europeans that would allow the

continent’s businesses to trade with

Teheran without violating the US

sanctions.

Araghchi said the European sys-

tem was “not functioning yet, but it

isinitsfinalstages”.

AGENCIES—XINHUA

Iran,fiveworldpowersseektosalvage

nuclearagreementfollowingUS

withdrawal,reimpositionofsanctions

Diplomatsrecommitto

savedealwithTeheran

Iran’s top nuclear negotiatorAbbasAraghchi (right) and Secretary-General of the European External

Action Service Helga Schmid attend a meeting of the JCPOArepresentatives in Vienna on July 28.

REUTERS

10 WORLDNEWS August 2-8, 2019 CHINADAILY GLOBAL WEEKLY