CONTEMPORARY EURASIA IX ( 1 )
Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in 1997 which announced to launch Japanese Silk Road ( or Eurasian ) Diplomacy ( 1997-2004 ). This plan defined three directions for cooperation : ( 1 ) political dialogue aiming at enhancing trust and mutual understanding ; ( 2 ) economic cooperation as well as cooperation for natural resource development aiming at fostering prosperity ; and ( 3 ) cooperation to build peace through nuclear non-proliferation , democratization , and thus fostering the stability . 27 Hashimoto hoped to bring the nations of the former Soviet Union into a network of interdependence by establishing Japanese economic and political presence in Eurasia , and by facilitating Japanese participation in resource exploration . During his speech , Hashimoto laid out the idea that it was time for Japan to forge a new Eurasian diplomatic perspective “ viewed from the Pacific ” instead of one viewed “ from the Atlantic .” Broadly speaking , due to this strategy Japan could play a leading role in influencing Eurasian affairs . 28 It is notable that Japan aims to play a leading role without suppressing the interests of other players in “ Great politics game .” Moreover , Japan is interested in interaction with other regional states , including Russia and China , bridging the geographic isolation of Central Asia and its economic integration into world economic relations . 29 This concept as a specific direction of Japanese foreign policy has been maintained during the Hashimoto administration and its successor , the Obuchi administration ( from July 30 , 1998 to April 5 , 2000 ), and decreased with time , while the Krasnoyarsk process failed to meet the deadline to conclude the bilateral peace treaty between Russia and Japan . 30
The second initiatives to engage in Central Asia was made in 2004 in Astana ( Kazakhstan ) by Japanese Foreign Minister Kawaguchi , who during a joint meeting with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Central
27
Timur Dadabaev , “ Japan ’ s Search for Its Central Asian Policy ,” Asian Survey 53 , no . 3 ( June 2013 ): 515 ; Takeshi , “ Japan ’ s Multilateral ,” 72 .
28
Christopher Len , “ Understanding Japan ’ s Central Asian Engagement ,” in Japan ’ s Silk Road Diplomacy : Paving the Road Ahead , edited by Christopher Len , Uyama Tomohiko , Hirose Tetsuya ( Washington , D . C .: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program , 2008 ), 31 .
29
Timur Dadabaev , “ Central Asia : Japan ' s New “ Old ” Frontier ,” Asia Pacific Issues , no . 136 ( February 2019 ): 3 .
30
Takeshi , “ Japan ’ s Multilateral ,” 74 . 35