Wary of losing out to China and South Korea, Japan is training new diplomats capable of leading world bodies

Tokyo has undertaken the initiative amid fears it is being overtaken by Beijing and Seoul, whose citizens have been considered for top UN and World Trade Organization roles

According to an analyst, Japan in recent years has not been able to exert influence over world issues or politics as ‘it has become so sidelined on the global stage’

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China presently holds the leadership of four UN bodies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 8:00am, 3 Mar 2021Updated: 8:02am, 3 Mar 2021

Japan has announced plans to develop a new generation of diplomats and experts with the skills required to head international bodies, amid fears it is losing out to China and South Korea – whose citizens have been considered for top roles in the United Nations and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Analysts said Japan was particularly concerned when Yoo Myung-hee, the South Korean trade minister, was shortlisted for the position of WTO director general. Tokyo and Seoul have in recent years been locked in a trade dispute linked to the nations’ shared history, with the row escalating to the point that Japan in 2019 imposed export controls on a number of chemicals critical to South Korea’s microchip industry. Should any bilateral trade dispute be referred to the WTO, Japan feared, a South Korean director general might not be completely impartial.

Yoo in early February conceded the campaign for the WTO leadership to Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, but the closeness of the race appears to have been perceived by Tokyo as an indicator of its diminished status and influence in world affairs.

Similarly, China presently holds the leadership of four UN bodies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization. Critics suggest Beijing has been granted control of these agencies thanks to its generous aid packages, which have been provided to developing nations in Africa before those nations voted for Chinese candidates in elections for international organisations.

South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee (left) was vying for the position of WTO chief with Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Photo: AFP

Local media reports over the weekend indicated that Japan’s National Security Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would take the lead in the development initiative. Initially, a committee will be set up to identify how best to go about nurturing personnel with the skills required to take on global leadership roles available to Japanese candidates.

“Japan has in recent years not been able to exert influence over world issues or politics because it has become so sidelined on the global stage,” said Patrick Hein, a lecturer in political science at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

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