The European Union and Japan are working together to cut their dependence on China and check Beijing’s influence in the Indo-Pacific, amid anger over China’s “no limits” partnership with Russia. At a summit in Tokyo on Thursday, leaders will establish a blueprint for wide-ranging cooperation, from trade, to technology and supply chains. The blueprint is expected to bolster supply chains and set joint standards for vital technology such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, 5G and 6G – many of the areas to be covered when the EU-US Trade and Technology Council convenes in Paris a few days later. The preparation for the digital partnership predates Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but geopolitical and security concerns now frame the commercial objections. In discussions with EU officials, traditional references to open markets have been replaced with allusions to the war and of the deepening divide with Beijing. They credit Japan for showing “full solidarity” with Western sanctions on Russia, saying Beijing’s “regrettable” backing for Moscow has helped push Brussels and Tokyo closer. “What happens in Europe today could happen in the Indo-Pacific tomorrow,” one senior source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “With the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and the close relationship between Moscow and Beijing, there is an even greater commitment by the EU to increase its role in the Indo-Pacific and Japan is, of course, a key partner for that.” Japan and UK agree on defence pact amid China’s rise in Indo-Pacific The source added that there was a mutual desire to challenge China’s influence in the region. The summit will examine ways to cooperate on infrastructure projects in Asia, so that countries can “connect to the global economy without being indebted for four millennia”. Tokyo has been couching things in similarly stark geopolitical terms. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who will chair the talks along with leaders of EU institutions, has been on a whistle-stop diplomatic tour to drum up support for tackling Russian aggression. He returned to Japan on Friday after stops in Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, as well as the Vatican City, Italy and Britain. “With the international community at a major historical crossroads, I visited six countries in Southeast Asia and Europe for the purpose of protecting peace, and achieved solid results,” he said on his return. In London after striking a defence pact with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Kishida said: “Ukraine may be tomorrow’s East Asia.” “Russia’s aggression is not an issue only for Europe. The international order encompassing the Indo-Pacific is at stake,” he said. Analysts said the summit would help dispel some widely held myths that the war was a matter for Europe alone. “Sanctions have not been purely a US-EU initiative – the Japanese have contributed to the sanctions almost from the get-go,” said Rem Korteweg, an analyst of Europe’s changing relations with global powers at the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch think tank. “It’s striking in a way that some parts of Asia tend to see this as a European war, whereas the Japanese seem to see this very clearly also, as something that could set a precedent for security developments in their own region.” Japan and Australia agree on military pact, aiming to keep China at bay With these concerns in mind, Taiwan will also be on the agenda in Tokyo this week, ensuring the new EU-Japan partnership will be greeted frostily by Beijing. Following Kishida’s meeting with Johnson, the Chinese embassy in London accused Japan of “repeatedly hyping up issues related to Taiwan and the East and South China seas on international occasions, alluding to and attacking China”. The Tokyo summit comes as European diplomats try to agree on a sixth package of sanctions on Russia, this time on Russian oil products. The economic backlash of the existing sanctions, and of the war itself, are beginning to show in Europe: energy and food prices are spiralling. Japan, meanwhile, has seen negotiations for a post-World War II peace treaty with Moscow frozen after it adopted many of the same sanctions. It also comes weeks after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen surprised even her own trade officials by establishing a trade and technology council with India, during a trip to New Delhi. There was little substance in the announcement, and experts are sceptical about how much can be achieved with India while long-running free trade talks are ongoing. The prospect of an EU-India council also jars with Brussels’ stated desire to work with those on the same page on Russia: India, too, has failed to condemn the war, and continues to buy huge volumes of Russian fuel. However, it points to an evolution in European strategy to diversify its Asian partnerships. Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor specialising in Europe’s relationship with Korea at King’s College London, said he expected an EU-South Korea summit to be announced in the coming weeks, adding that the advance of a new geopolitical Europe would be welcomed in both Seoul and Tokyo. “Summits and dialogue with China will continue, but it is quite clear that things haven’t been going well for a few years now. The EU is looking at other partners who [it] can work with in their region who share the same concerns.”
