Olympics, Omicron and Civil Obedience?: Lessons from Japan's COVID countermeasures

In the Indo-Pacific, the Japan-US-Indo-Australian quadrilateral cooperation—known as “the Quad”—has risen to prominence amid growing geopolitical strains. But even as the Quad has come to the forefront in the region, questions remain about how effective the group can be in the face of multiplying issues. To better understand the challenges faced, we have brought together experts from each country. MODERATOR: ZACK COOPER[Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute] PANELIST: MICHAEL R. AUSLIN[Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow in Contemporary Asia at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University] PANELIST: HAYLEY CHANNER[Senior Policy Fellow at Perth USAsia Centre] PANELIST: BRAHMA CHELLANEY[Professor Emeritus at the Center for Policy Research] PANELIST: KEN JIMBO[Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University]

Following the constructive Japan-US Summit between PM Suga and President Biden on April 16, the first webinar in the Asia Undercurrent series will be the “Future of the Japan-US Alliance: A united front to realize a Free and Open Indo-Pacific?” This installment will focus on one of the region’s most important and enduring bilateral relations as well as how the leaders of both countries can continue working together to take on mutual challenges. MODERATOR: STEVE CLEMONS[Editor at Large of The Hill] PANELIST: RICHARD FONTAINE[CEO of Center for a New American Security and former foreign policy advisor for Senator John McCain] PANELIST: VALÉRIE NIQUET[Head of the Asia department at FRS (La Fondation pour la recherche stratégique, France)] PANELIST: NOBUKATSU KANEHARA[Professor of Doshisha University in Kyoto and the former Deputy Secretary-General of the National Security Secretariat under the Abe administration.]

Japan has avoided severe lockdowns in favor of voluntary self-restraint measures. The result has been the lowest level of COVID-related deaths (230 per million) among all the nations in the OECD. Even large-scale events such as the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics took place with no upsurge in cases. There have been some downsides, however. With a near total ban on immigration and tourism, foreign companies in Japan have seen their plans disrupted and the previously fast-growing tourism sector has suffered from a severe downturn. To explore the story behind Japan’s COVID countermeasures, we brought together a panel of experts to better understand what the world could learn from Japan’s experience. MODERATOR: KAZUTO SUZUKI[Professor of Science and Technology Policy at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo Senior Fellow of Asia Pacific Initiative (API)] PANELIST: HITOSHI OSHITANI[Professor at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine] PANELIST: GEAROID REIDY[Senior Editor, Bloomberg News] PANELIST: ZEYNEP TUFEKCI[Visiting associate professor at Columbia University and a columnist at the New York Times]

Upon taking office, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida unveiled to Japan and the world a “New Form of Capitalism” under which wage increases and renewed growth will benefit all. However, the road to realizing this “New Form of Capitalism” is fraught with issues ranging from policy issues to trade and the pandemic that has struck all nations. In order to understand what this new policy mean for Japan and the wider world, we are joined by a team of distinguished experts and insiders including Aiko Lane, Ken Shibusawa, and Noah Sneider with Robert A. Feldman as moderator for a dynamic and in-depth discussion. MODERATOR: ROBERT FELDMAN[Senior Advisor, Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co., Ltd.] PANELIST: AIKO LANE[Executive Director, U.S.-Japan Business Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce] PANELIST: KEN SHIBUSAWA[Chief Executive Officer, Shibusawa and Company, Inc. / Founder and Chairman, Commons Asset Management / Senior Advisor, Brunswick Group] PANELIST: NOAH SNEIDER[Tokyo Bureau Chief, The Economist]

Japan’s transition out of the global pandemic and into a stage of recovery is being ushered in by Kishida Fumio, a new Japanese leader. However, the playing field is fraught with simmering tensions and evolving global agendas. Joined by a team of distinguished experts and insiders, we delved into the new administration’s foreign policy, including its prospects for bolstering international cooperation in trade, defense and supply chain issues amid regional tensions. MODERATOR: JOSHUA W. WALKER[President & CEO Japan Society] PANELIST: MICHAEL J. GREEN[Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair, CSIS / Director of Asian Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University] PANELIST: NORIYUKI SHIKATA[Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office of Japan since October 2021] PANELIST: MIREYA SOLÍS[Director - Center for East Asia Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution]

The experts from around the globe discussed the new imperatives for national economic security, the prospects for bi-lateral and multi-lateral free trade, as well as how things once as mundane as stable supply lines and guaranteed intellectual property had all become potential weapons in a new, evolving conflict. MODERATOR: GLEN S. FUKUSHIMA[Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress / Former Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for Japan and China / Former President, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan] PANELIST: WENDY CUTLER[Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) / Managing Director of the Washington, D.C. Office] PANELIST: ROBIN HARDING[Asia Editor for the Financial Times] PANELIST: KAZUTO SUZUKI[Professor of Science and Technology Policy at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo Senior Fellow of Asia Pacific Initiative (API)]

Despite the Indo-Pacific region’s vibrant growth, one challenge in particular has vexed the global community since the end of the Second World War: the issue of the North Korea and its belligerent and often troubled relationship with its neighbors in North Asia as well as the international community as a whole.  Bringing together a global team of experts from around the world, we will discuss and debate about the current dangers proposed by this aspiring nuclear power as well as how the global community can effectively engage and counter North Korea while maintaining peace and stability. MODERATOR: GORDON FLAKE[The founding Chief Executive Officer of the Perth US Asia Centre at The University of Western Australia.] PANELIST: SUE MI TERRY[Director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center at the Wilson Center] PANELIST: PARK WON GON[Associate Professor in the Department of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University] PANELIST: NARUSHIGE MICHISHITA[Member, Board of Trustees / Vice President / Professor / National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)]

Asia Undercurrent Webinar Series Quad Over Troubled Waters: What challenges await the Quad in the Indo-Pacific? The Indo-Pacific is arguably one of the world’s most important geographic areas while it is also rife with potential conflict and ongoing frictions. Against this background, a partnership of liberal democracies known as “the Quad” has risen to prominence.   Following our first webinar on the Japan-US alliance, we are holding the second session in our Asia Undercurrent series with CSIS’s Dr. Michael Green as moderator. Here we will look at the increasing importance of this gather of like-minded nations and what the future holds for the Quad in the Indo-Pacific and global geopolitics as a whole. https://www.global-nikkei.com/asiaundercurrent/archives/index.html