Kan needs comprehensive strategy to handle prickly diplomatic relations

At the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Yokohama, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan held talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The summit talks between China and Japan managed to go ahead after last-minute negotiating, and the countries agreed to develop strategic and mutually beneficial relations. In the Japan-Russia talks, the nations stood in opposition over their claims to the Russian-held Northern Territories. Meanwhile, in the Japan-U.S. talks, Obama and Prime Minister Kan agreed to work toward issuing a joint statement on strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance when the prime minister visits the U.S. next year.

For Japan and the United States, the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture has been a controversial issue. Meanwhile, Kan has faced a diplomatic onslaught over the disputed Senkaku Islands and Northern Territories, but narrowly managed to save face by holding fast to talks with the Chinese and Russian leaders.

So far, there have been no prospects of finding a path to full-scale restoration of relations between Japan and China, where public anger in both countries over September's collision between a Chinese fishing boat and two Japan Coast Guard vessels off the Senkaku Islands has only grown worse. At the same time, the issues of the Futenma relocation and sovereignty over the Northern Territories, the latter having caused direct confrontation between Japan and Russia, drag on.

To tackle tough issues such as strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance, strong leadership is vital. The prime minister must get to work on forming a comprehensive diplomatic strategy.

At APEC, the Japan-China summit lasted a mere 22 minutes, but the meeting marked the first official talks between Japan and China since the Senkaku Islands collision. The meeting can probably be taken as an expression of China's will to improve relations. The two sides were at odds over their stance on the Senkaku issue, but they were aligned when it came to cooperating on the promotion of governmental and nongovernmental exchanges and on global issues, including economic matters.

In the talks with the Russian leader, Kan stated that Medvedev's recent visit to the Northern Territories was unacceptable when considering public sentiment in Japan. Medvedev responded that the islands were Russia's territory and would continue to remain so in the future. He suggested that a different approach be taken toward negotiating a peace treaty between the two countries, projecting financial issues to the foreground.

However, when Kan stated that he wanted to continue dialogue and develop a cooperative relationship, Medvedev invited Kan to come to Russia next year. This could be interpreted as an expression of Medvedev's willingness to continue negotiations over the Northern Territories.

Forming the background to Russia's hardened stance on the Northern Territories is the fact that the country has emerged from an economic downturn and its reliance on economic cooperation from Japan is not as strong as before. Japan probably needs to consider new methods of negotiation.

In the Japan-U.S. summit talks, Kan stated that Japan would make efforts to relocate the Futenma base in line with an agreement between Japan and the U.S. to move the airfield to the area around the Okinawa Prefecture city of Nago after the Okinawa gubernatorial election.

Considering China's increasing economic and military strength, there is meaning in the two leaders reaffirming the value of the Japan-U.S. alliance. But with local resistance to the agreement between Japan and the U.S. increasing, will Kan manage to fulfill the agreement? A testing time for Japan's prime minister is not far away.