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Japan
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Japan sells itself as Global South’s China counterweight with whistle-stop tour of Africa, South Asia

  • Madagascar, Ivory Coast and Nigeria were first on the itinerary for Tokyo’s top diplomat this week, with Japan’s Indo-Pacific strategy front of mind
  • Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa‘s 10-day tour is calling at Sri Lanka and Nepal last – where the China-India rivalry is sure to be high on the agenda

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Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa shakes hands with Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara at his residence in Abidjan on Monday. Photo: AFP
Maria Siow
Japan has dispatched its top diplomat on a whirlwind tour of Global South countries in recent days, as Tokyo seeks to showcase its commitment to the emerging economies of Asia and Africa – where it continues to jostle with China for influence.
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Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa began her 10-day tour last Saturday in the Indian Ocean island nation of Madagascar, off Africa’s east coast, where she discussed economic cooperation and Japan’s “free and open Indo-Pacific” strategy – a vision it shares with Washington that emphasises open trade, maritime security and the rule of law.

She visited Ivory Coast next, on Monday, and Nigeria the day afterwards, ending the week in France before planning stops in Sri Lanka and Nepal over the weekend.

As well as stepping up engagement, Tokyo’s aim is to narrow the development gap among countries in the Global South – a term for a loose grouping of developing nations – according to Céline Pajon, head of Japan research at the French Institute of International Relations’ Centre for Asian and Indo-Pacific Studies in Paris.

Strategic considerations were front of mind during the visits, Pajon said, noting that Japan’s free and open Indo-Pacific plan was particularly relevant to Madagascar, given the island’s location in the western Indian Ocean, separated from the African continent by the Mozambique Channel.

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The 1,700km (1,100-mile) strategic waterway is primarily used for trade and the transport of energy resources and minerals, but drug trafficking, illegal fishing and piracy have also become problems in recent years.

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