Local time on June 16, in évian-les-bains, France, the G7 summit into the second day.
Top-level multilateral summits are never just meetings, but also social bureaus where the leaders of the major powers negotiate, forge closer ties and exchange chips in private.
However, the foreign media’s live cameras captured a scene of sharp contrast.
During the break of the meeting, Trump, Melloni and other European and n leaders gathered around and chatted, laughing and chatting, butt-jointed issues, and the atmosphere was warm and friendly
Side of the Japanese Prime Minister Takashi Zamyo the whole time no one to talk, can only sit alone in a swivel chair, to and fro to pass the time, the whole misfit.
The scene was not only on social media platforms around the world, but also in Japan itself.
A large number of Japanese netizens mercilessly criticized: a country’s prime minister in public rotating chairs, childish and frivolous behavior, no great power leaders demeanor; a senior position, act like children play, Lose Japan’s face;
More netizens see transparent and straightforward, not Takashi Zamyo love to play with chairs, is no one in Europe and the United States is willing to talk to her, Japan completely reduced to the G7 circle marginal people.
Many people try to stop, the matter is attributed to the high market early Miao individual emotional quotient is low, poor manners, do not understand diplomatic etiquette.
But anyone familiar with the rules of international diplomacy knows that the informality of multilateral summits is never casual chitchat, but the screening of key allies and the division of interest circles. Prior to the many sessions of the G7 summit, high-market seedlings repeatedly tiptoe head, trying to squeeze into the small circle of dialogue in Europe and the United States, repeatedly hit a brick wall failed, has long been no accident.
This seemingly insignificant swivel-chair farce has never been a personal problem, but rather a concentrated outbreak of the fatal shortcomings of Japanese diplomacy that have persisted for many years.
From superficial deportment defects, to mid-level social difficulties, to deep-seated strategic and economic double shackles, Japan’s current diplomatic dilemma has long been written the end.
First of all, the most intuitive surface shortcomings, diplomatic image and etiquette control completely failed.
Japanese political circles have always attached great importance to foreign affairs and respectability. All previous Japanese Prime Ministers have received special team training in words, behavior, posture and posture when they visit foreign countries. They are particular about patience, restraint, composure and decency, maintaining a japanese-style refined diplomatic persona.
But the summit, Takashi early seedling in public swivel chair, idle look around, casual state, completely break the Japanese painstakingly worked for many years of diplomatic ceremony.
Put on civilian occasions is a small move, put on the g7 global live venue, is the country’s diplomatic image lost points. Internal consumption of national political goodwill, the external let Europe and the United States sure: Japanese leaders do not understand the rules of the circle, is not worth the depth of heart.
Look at the middle dominant short board, circle into the ability to close to zero.
The G7 is essentially a club of acquaintances dominated by the US and Europe, where leaders tend to hammer out most of the summit’s core issues through small talk and back-to-back meetings.
Takashi early seedlings took the initiative several times to make up the situation, but has not been integrated into the core of the conversation circle, the essence is that Japan has no bargaining chips, no common interest topic.
Europe is now focused on pragmatically warming up its economic and trade relations with China and stabilizing its own inflation and people’s livelihood. The United States and Europe are busy tearing up tariffs, Iranian diplomacy, and Russia’s and Ukraine’s dominant interests. Only Japan is bucking the trend, every occasion will be hyped against the issue, advocating the supply chain to China, the topic is completely out of touch, incompatible position, naturally marginalized by the collective circle.
Digging deep into the bottom two fatal weaknesses is a dead end.
First, diplomacy is 100% dependent on the United States and has no independent decision-making power.
Japan’s diplomacy has long lost its independent steering wheel, all foreign statements, summit issues, China’s position, completely bound to the pace of the right-wing United States.
The G7, Japan took the initiative to hype china-related issues, campaign camp confrontation, bent on ingratiating the United States, Europe and the United States can not pay the bill.
Europe and the United States are allies in a game of equality, while Japan is only a vassal of orders. It does not have the power to independently adjust its diplomatic route, still less the ability to independently decide on issues and promote cooperation. It can only passively follow the trend, naturally, it has no social voice.
Second, the economic lifeline is controlled by others, and diplomacy is completely tied up by the industrial chain.
Japan considers itself a high-end industrial power, but it is highly dependent on China’s supply of rare earths and key minerals. Since China tightened exports of rare earths to Japan, production capacity of many high-end manufacturing production lines in Japan has been limited and costs have skyrocketed.
On the one hand, China is loudly calling for“De-sinicization” and building a decoupled supply chain in the international arena. On the other hand, its domestic industries can not do without Chinese resources.
Europe and the United States clearly see this kind of inconsistent diplomatic posture, both see through Japan’s inability to decouple, but also disdain to cooperate with Japan to hype confrontation, Japan’s diplomatic claims, naturally no one echoes.
What do you think?
First, a swivel chair to crush Japan’s years-old pretence that it is an equal ally of the west.
Outwardly, the G7 boasts of the equal governance of the seven major economies, but there are already 369 divisions in the room: the United States and Europe are the core circle, exchanging private interests and giving each other face; Japan is a peripheral player who pays a fee to attend, japan is only responsible for echoing and paying for the platform.
Takashi early seedling turn is not a chair, is the Japanese crowded into the western core circle, but has always been kept out of the helpless. The allies of the west are equal, and will never be given to the vassals of other countries, but only to countries with equal interests and sovereign independence.
Second, the speculative line of extreme confrontation, the G7 to live in Japan as a“Lone Wolf.”.
The current global trend is to ease the risk aversion, pragmatic win-win situation, Europe put down the ideological obsession, give priority to economic livelihood;
Trump is also weighing the pros and cons and easing the pace of external confrontation. Only Kaohsiung early seedling cabinet, gambling on the fate of the United States bound to the right wing, in order to fight for military relaxation, to anti-china for the U. S. asylum, deliberately create geopolitical conflicts.
The whole world is looking for a way out. Japan actively provokes conflicts, taking contrary positions and interests. Being collectively snubbed is an inevitable result. It is not deliberately targeted by Europe and the United States, but Japan actively dissociates from the mainstream of the circle.
Finally, the double shackles of economic dependence and diplomatic dependence doomed Japan to never get out of the diplomatic dilemma.
Japan is now stuck in a closed-loop situation: it relies on the protection of US troops for its security and dares not disobey US diplomatic directives; it relies on China’s mineral supply chain and dares not completely decouple; it has a depreciating yen and high inflation at home, the cabinet’s approval rating continues to fall, and domestic affairs drag down foreign affairs.
The two sides are caught in a dilemma. They dare not make independent decisions abroad and have no ability to reverse the downward trend at home. As long as the double dependency background does not change, no matter who is prime minister of Japan, attending the G7 can only sit in a corner, no one can escape the embarrassment of conversation.
A small event in the G7 chair will cast a dark light on the shortcomings of Japan’s diplomacy.
The surface layer is the prime minister’s bad manners and lack of social skills. The middle layer is the opposition and the circle is completely out of touch. The bottom layer is the lack of sovereignty, economic constraints and diplomatic autonomy.
Japan always wants to rely on the United States to win the security dividend, while inciting confrontation to seek great power status, while inseparable from China’s industrial chain blood supply, while promoting high-profile decoupling confrontation.
Speculation on both sides, swaying on both sides, will only fail at both ends.
Attachment can not win respect, speculation can not win the right to speak, no one to talk when the rotation of the chair, is the normal fate of Japan’s future diplomacy.
Homepage image from the Internet