I had already mentioned that I was astonished when Mr. Taishi Sugiyama's article appeared in the Sankei Shimbun the other day.
The following is from a feature article in the current issue of the monthly magazine WiLL titled "Inviting a crisis in Japan, The Decarbonization Trap - China behind it," which features a conversation between Yoshiko Sakurai and Daishi Sugiyama, Research Director of the Canon Institute for Global Studies.
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but for people all over the world.
As a friend of mine, who is an avid reader, likes to say, "There is nothing cheaper than a book," and these monthly magazines are a perfect demonstration of that every month.
It is a miracle that for the price of one lunch, it can get a complete picture of Japan's realities and truths and the world.
I will let the world know as much as I can.
Is it okay to "don't talk about human rights and security" in return for "cooperating with global warming countermeasures"?
The Obama Administration's Big Failure
Europe's Struggle Continues
Sakurai
Let me return to China.
Last December, the EU signed a comprehensive investment agreement with China.
In November, China also concluded the RCEP (Comprehensive Economic Partnership) with ASEAN, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
China is also taking an aggressive stance on joining the TPP. Still, it is trying to drive a wedge between the economies and the values of liberalism.
Pottinger, then deputy assistant to the Trump administration president, expressed his displeasure about the investment agreement, saying, "The leaders of the U.S. government and Congress are perplexed that the EU moved on a new investment agreement on the eve of the inauguration of the new administration.
Sugiyama
Following the investment agreement at the end of last year, China and the EU held a high-level "Environment and Climate Dialogue" on February 1 this year.
What is worrisome is that the EU has been silent on China's human rights issues during the events.
Sakurai
The EU is surprisingly unaware of how much of a security threat China is.
Sugiyama
They probably think it's someone else's problem because it's in the distant East China Sea and the South China Sea.
Sakurai
Germany is also in a quandary concerning its own energy security.
In 2018, Trump scathingly criticized Merkel as a "prisoner of Russia" in a meeting with the NATO chairman.
This was because Germany was cooperating with Russia in laying the Nord Stream 2 undersea gas pipeline, which is supposed to be a threat to NATO countries.
Energy is nothing but the most important strategic commodity for any nation.
Nevertheless, it has steered Europe toward dependence on Russia for its electricity supply.
It's like trying to break the NATO alliance, and Trump is understandably angry.
Sugiyama
Ms. Merkel and Mr. Macron have a China-centric stance.
EU President von der Leyen emphasizes the relationship with the U.S., but Germany and France are not ready to abandon their economic relationship with China.
If the EU falls out of step and relations with the U.S. become strained, it will benefit China.
This article continues.
