Documentation Brochure - Hamburg Summit

Competing Powers in Asia
The Australian Ambassador to Germany,
Ian Kemish, tells an anecdote
to describe relations among Asian
countries. Some years ago he attended
a conference of Asian states at which
the former Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi spoke. Koizumi
addressed one head of government
after another directly, describing bluntly
the conflicts that Japan had with his
country. Kemish feared that there might
be an uproar. But Koizumi ended his
speech by saying that Japan enjoyed
very close economic ties with these
countries and that he was therefore
willing to resolve all of the conflicts.
Ampalanavar Selverajah, the
Singaporean Ambassador to Germany,
also emphasised the peacekeeping
effect of economic ties. “The more
intense economic growth, the more
everybody has to lose by a conflict,” he
said. “But where are the problems”,
Eberhard Sandschneider, Otto Wolff
Director of the Research Institute at the
German Council on Foreign Relations,
asked. Volker Stanzel, German
Ambassador to China, conceded that
“competition in Asia sometimes gives
rise to fears,” but Asian countries are
discovering the advantages of cooperation.
“Instead of competing powers in
Asia we will have competing regions like
the United States, the EU and Asia,”
Stanzel predicted. “But we want an
architecture that is open,” said Selverajah,
“because Asia is still a region of
difference.”
China, Japan and India will have a
stake in the region, but there is always
“an invisible partner in the room,”
Kemish pointed out: the United States,
China and Japan were the leading
powers and “no country in the region
wants to be in a position where it has to
choose between them,” Selverajah said.
Relations between China and Japan
are the most important for regional
development and security. China’s rise
has a greater impact on Japan than on
the United States. In 20 years China will
have overtaken Japan in economic
power. “For a stable Asia it is important
that both countries come together,”
Selverajah is convinced. The conclusion
reached by Guo Wei, President of
Digital China Holdings, is wholly consistent
with the positive underlying
mood. “Chinese growth should bring
benefits to the world, even to Japan,”
he said. “The largest risk is misunderstanding.”