Kamikawa eyes Pacific islands visit in Feb to counter China's expanding clout in region

Every countries in the Pacific knew Japan is no longer as generous as China and her decline slipped to be no.3 orno.4 economy status. Japan in stagnation for 30 years, she is not the Japan as she was in 1980s. So don't waste time on diplomacy traveling, saving taxpayers money is practical!

If Japan wants better influence start respecting other Asian countries. Have more open boarders. Pay fair international wages and stop treating them as servants and unequal humans. Respect is earned.

"The Solomon Islands has drawn closer to China in recent years, after the two signed in 2022 a bilateral security pact."

A security pact?!

Who are they afraid of? Japan? Australia? Vietnam?

A security pact with China?!

Gosh! Talk about letting the fox into the chicken house with the door wide open!

Solomon Islands probably realized that nothing has improved while associating with other powers.

Japan won't get into a bidding war with China. Many of these islands are banana republics, led by military junta. All the cash handouts go to the leaders to finance their lifestyles, homes and children's education in Australia and NZ.

China is only interested in using these islands as naval bases as part of their endless territorial expansion.

There are many, many thousands of islands in the Pacific Ocean. If China has her eye on ALL of them, is Madam Kamikawa going to visit each one of them!

Every countries in the Pacific knew Japan is no longer as generous as China

China is not generous at all! They make loans, not gifts. Everything with China has strings attached. Japan like the west give much aid to the region that is free and has no strings.

Japan is much more favored than China. China bribes officials to get what it wants, they are the only "gifts" and they still come with strings and expectations.

Stay away from Chinese loan sharks, they will leave you destitute.

The many many thousands of islands that fall under the jurisdiction of far far less than many thousands of governments would not all need to be visited.

And why would China have her eye on all islands of the Pacific?

Stay local and don't annoy other countries with your trips

Stay local and don't annoy other countries with your trips

That is great advise for China. I hope they listen to you.

Why aren't these people doing these things online? And what EVER comes of these meetings apart from more broken promises, bickering and nonsensical policy?

Stay local and don't annoy other countries with your trips

Her job title is Foreign Minister.

Peter14Today 09:07 am JST

China is not generous at all! They make loans, not gifts. Everything with China has strings attached.

Exactly right. And let's not forget the quality of the aid and development assistance Japan provides: assistance targeted to the needs of the recipient country, not the provider; high-quality infrastructure and training; local workforces and materials used where possible; and transparent, fully-costed funding.

Compare this to China's "generosity," as another poster mislabels it: projects designed to benefit China to achieve its geopolitical aims and offload its manpower/materials (all shipped in from China, with no benefit to the local economy); poor-quality infrastructure; and opaque, onerous funding.

Recipient countries end up with mountains of debt, both on and off the books:

https://thediplomat.com/2021/11/chinas-bri-lending-385-billion-in-hidden-debts/

And (to name but two among a mountain of others) projects like roads to nowhere, and trains to places no-one wants to visit:

https://thediplomat.com/2024/01/montenegros-scandal-ridden-chinese-road/

https://businessday.ng/business-economy/article/how-buharis-train-to-nowhere-worsens-nigerias-debt-woes/

And why would China have her eye on all islands of the Pacific?

Naval bases. Territorial expansion - their never-ending quest for more land. Extra votes in the UN.

Basically - greed.

I wonder if she plans to visit Nauru.

As if Japan has any real chance to counter China,s clout.

Far more easily done than many seem to think.

How about government focusing on fixing the myriad of social net issues Japan has first.

You should be putting China first on that list, of a nation with many problems and huge ones at that. China's collapsing property market, declining domestic consumption, falling international investments, poorly viewed by the international community, internal strife and disagreements. China should be focusing on its problems and not trying to increase its borders and its territories.

JT stories such as the old couple freezing to death in Tokyo because they cant afford heating might be hint for a start.

Tragedies like that are isolated and sad, but they can happen even in the best of times when individuals fall on hard times for any number of reasons.

@Fighto - exactly. Nothing generous about it as some seem to think.

Japan and other Pacific Island nations need to push back. China is a country of thieves and needs to be stopped.

The problems/issues with all these trips/adventures etc, is, it echo/a repeat of what the American have attempted.

If, the American needs someone/another country to echo/repeat what it has done, it is unlikely to achieve anything that the American could not.

As much as I dislike XiXiPee, ignoring them until Poo offer them honey which was made and accumulated from our own corporations' greed, is not a sign of good will.

Kamikawa gets an A for effort. However, China and the BRICS have more to offer I'm afraid with their non-domestic interference partnership model sells well. India and Muslim countries are the top growth markets.

Japan's got shrinking aging market like much of G-7 and US war monger for a master = not a great sales 'pitch'!

Please tell us more detail about this important point, sensei.

The ancestral connection that japan has genealogically is something the USA couldn't possibly achieve.

She'll have another nice holiday in Fiji for sure. Can't see much benefit to the taxpayer for this junket tho.

China's debt trap, or its tendency to lend money overseas to build bases and lease ports, will continue to accelerate.

We will continue to need to call attention to this, and just because it is easy to borrow development funds, it cannot be said that it is good for the country.

China's expansion into the Pacific Ocean has been its long-cherished desire, and Japan and Taiwan have been geographically blocking this move. Friction with China will continue to increase, but it will never end unless China disappears.

What about the U.S. expansion?

Doing geopolitical tourism in order to satisfy the geopolitical whims of good old US..

Japan, have more dignity, stop falling in US dirty trap..