Ceylon Today Editorial

Prime Minister off to ‘Land of the Rising Sun’

10 April 2017

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe leaves for Japan today to enhance relations between the two countries.

Premier Wickremesinghe and his entourage is the first high profile delegation to visit Japan since the National Unity Government was formed for good governance in 2015.

As changes are rapidly taking shape in Sri Lanka's landscape with the Colombo Port City development project to enhance the battered economy of the island, Japan's role in the overall development of the island nation is inevitable.

Japan remains an exemplary country to the entire world in overcoming man-made disasters with its experience of the atomic bomb attack during World War II and natural calamities such as earthquakes and tsunamis which threaten the country frequently.

Geographically located directly east of China, the ancient Chinese first thought the Sun rises from Japan and it was due to this belief that Japan later became popular in the international scene and nicknamed 'Land of the Rising Sun'.

Now with Sri Lanka's capital city getting a facelift with the Colombo Port City project, new economic ventures are expected to boom in the Port City which is being built by China to make Sri Lanka's Singapore dream, a reality.

Strong ties between Sri Lanka and Japan date back to nearly six decades with the first Executive President of Sri Lanka, the late J.R. Jayewardene who was also the political mentor of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing at the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951 emphasizing the need to readmit Japan to the World community after World War II.

Japan that was impressed by the supportive role played by late President J.R. Jayewardene at the San Francisco Peace Conference, was in the forefront to extend its support to Sri Lanka when J.R. Jayewardene became President in 1978.

To extend its gratitude to Sri Lanka, the new Parliament building in Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte was built by Japan along with setting up Sri Lanka's first television station, Rupavahini.

Japan also went to the extent of even erecting a statue for the late President J.R. Jayewardene at the Kamakura temple in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan in 1988.

Under President Jayewardene's open economic policy, Japan stood by Sri Lanka in initiating several development activities.

It is also important to remember the supportive role played by Japan as one of the co-chairs in the peace initiatives carried out by Norway when the ruthless war was in progress.

Japanese Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi travelled to Sri Lanka several times to extend Japan's support to create peace in Sri Lanka when the Norwegian peace process was in progress.

Apart from its diplomatic assistance, Japan also provided financial assistances to stabilize ceasefire activities in the island.

Since Sri Lanka being now focused to straighten its crippled economy, the long-standing healthy relations with Japan will certainly be a pathfinder in the island nation's journey to heal its scars of war and reach new vistas in the development sector.

In the backdrop of several changes that have occurred in the geopolitical scene globally, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to Japan is timely as far as Sri Lanka's international relations are concerned with regard to its political and economic activities.

As the regional superpowers, India and China have already stepped into the island along with America considering Sri Lanka as a strategic location in South Asia for its regional political and military exploits, the island nation should ensure that it is not turned into a hub for superpower tussle in the Indian Subcontinent.

Therefore, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's official visit to the 'Land of the Rising Sun' at this juncture could even be considered a timely diplomatic move towards handling regional and International relations in the best interests of Sri Lanka.

Daily News Editorial

An unshakable bond

10 April 2017

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe begins a week-long visit to Japan today, marking yet another milestone in the history of close ties between the two countries. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe will hold a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe followed by several other engagements. The Government of Japan has announced that they are looking forward to the visit which they believe will serve to further strengthen the friendly relations between Japan and Sri Lanka.

This is indeed a landmark visit, even within the context of already exceptionally good relations between Japan and Sri Lanka. This is the Premier’s second official visit to Japan having first visited it in October 2015. President Maithripala Sirisena visited Japan last year. The Japanese Prime Minister visited Sri Lanka in 2014. Japan is indeed one of Sri Lanka’s closest friends on the world stage. A civilization inspired by Buddhism forms the very bedrock of history in both countries. There is ample evidence that the two countries have enjoyed religious and trade ties for centuries.

But the one event in living memory that cemented a special place in Japanese hearts for Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans was the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951. The Allied Powers were in no mood to forgive Japan following the end of the Second World War and there were calls to “punish” Japan, which had already suffered two devastating nuclear attacks. A Berlin-style break-up of Japan among the victors was on the table.

Finance Minister J.R. Jayewardene, who would later become President, was the leader of the delegation from Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known). He stunned everyone by reciting this stanza from the Buddha Dhamma: “Hatred ceases not by hatred, but by love alone”. He argued that Japan should be allowed to go on as an independent and free nation without undue interference from other powers. His was a stirring speech that ultimately resulted in the Allied Powers taking their hands off Japan.

“It is the message of the Buddha, the Great Teacher, the Founder of Buddhism which spread a wave of humanism through South Asia, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Siam, Indonesia and Ceylon and also northwards through the Himalayas into Tibet, China and finally Japan, which bound us together for hundreds of years with a common culture and heritage. This common culture still exists. I gathered the impression that the common people of Japan are still influenced by the shadow of that Great Teacher of peace, and wish to follow it. We must give them that opportunity,” Jayewardene said.

Although a few countries opposed giving complete freedom to Japan, Jayewardene’s viewpoint prevailed. The Government and the people of Japan have never forgotten that it was Sri Lanka which stood by it at this crucial juncture. Indeed, Sri Lanka could take some credit for Japan’s post-war social and economic success – Japan would still be at the mercy of more powerful countries if Sri Lanka did not intervene in 1951. Remarkably, Sri Lanka did not even have formal diplomatic ties with Japan at that time – these were established only in April 1952.

Ever since, the ties between the two countries have gone from strength to strength, regardless of who was in power at either end. Japan is the leading provider of development assistance to Sri Lanka and is also a major investor. Unlike many other countries, Japan gives many outright grants (approx 207 billion yen by 2015) and any loans have only a minimal interest with a very generous grace period. Over the years, Japan has funded many massive development projects here.

Sri Lankans have an affinity for Japanese goods – Japanese car brands still lead the market, despite the high duty structure. In electronic too, most Lankans prefer Japanese brands. However, this means that the balance of trade is in favour of Japan (Sri Lanka imported 144 billion yen worth Japanese goods in 2015 and exported goods worth only 32 billion yen, including tea, textile shrimp, fish and rubber products). Sri Lankan exporters should work hard to enhance their penetration of Japan through diversification.

Both Governments should strive to enhance people-to-people contact. More than 13,000 Sri Lankans live in Japan. The Government is hoping to attract at least 100,000 tourists from Japan a year to Sri Lanka but additional flights are needed to cater to the demand for seats. Only SriLankan now flies to Tokyo Narita direct. The authorities should explore the possibility of getting Japan Airlines to fly to Colombo either from Tokyo Narita or Tokyo Haneda.

Sri Lankans fell in love with Japanese culture by watching Oshin, originally broadcast around 30 years ago. Now people of all ages are keen to learn the Japanese language and other aspects of culture such as Origami and Ikebana. There is a good following for the Japanese channels broadcast on IPTV and satellite. All these have led to the creation of an unshakable bond between the two countries that will be reinforced by the Premier’s visit, a bond that will stand the test of time and history.

The Island Editorial

Trump’s love for Syrians

10 April 2017

 

US President Donald Trump has, in a desperate bid to overcome domestic problems and rally support, emulated his predecessors such as Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He has taken to military action overseas. He had a Syrian airfield bombed last week, claiming that President Bashar al-Assad had to face the consequences of chemical attacks on rebel forces. But, the whole world is aware that Trump is no friend of Syrians going through hell. His anti-Muslim travel ban has amply demonstrated that he does not care a damn about global humanitarian issues, especially the one in Syria.

As Russia pointed out at the UN Security Council meeting last week, the spirits of ISIS terrorists who have become a threat to the entire world were greatly raised by the US attack at issue. In a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Saturday over the situation in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pointed out that "an attack on a country whose government fights terrorism only plays into the hands of extremists, creates additional threats to regional and global security."

Meanwhile, Trump’s air strikes have yielded the desired results in Europe. France and Germany lost no time in welcoming them. They told Assad, in no uncertain terms that he had provoked the missile attacks and, therefore, was responsible for it. If only the US had reacted similarly in the 1980s when Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein carried out chemical attacks on Iraqis and Iranians! It was the only country that voted against a UN Security Council statement in 1986 condemning the mustard gas attacks by Iraq on the Iranian forces!

The US also allowed its companies to export chemicals to Iraq, which used them on humans. All chemical attacks by Saddam on the Kurds under the Anfal campaign, which left over 150,000 Kurds dead, more than 1,000 Kurdish villages destroyed and about 300,000 Kurds displaced had the blessings of the West. The crop spraying helicopters used for those attacks had came from the US! Strangely, those massacres had no impact on the trade that Iraq had with the West.

The West later gave the world a scare by proclaiming that Saddam was about to acquire nukes. But, he got uranium from Portugal, France and Italy and assistance for centrifuge enrichment came from Germany. The US Senate during one of its inquiries in 1995 stumbled on a startling fact: The United States had, during the Iran-Iraq war, provided Saddam with samples of all the strains of germs used for making biological weapons!

Fear is being expressed in some quarters that unless the Syrian crisis was defused urgently there might be a confrontation between the two leading nuclear powers. But, this fear is unfounded in that the US and Russia have avoided collision over far more serious issues in the past. After all, a confrontation with Russia is the last thing President Trump wants at this juncture. He hasn’t apparently taken leave of his senses to resort to a course of action which is sure to precipitate a nuclear winter.

Speculation is rife that Trump will order strikes on North Korea as well. But, all signs are that he won’t dare do so because he knows that North Korea possesses nukes and is blind to the consequence of its action. In case of a US strike, the North Korean dictator is likely to turn to soft targets if it cannot take on the US.

Assad, no doubt, has to be tamed and the onus is on Russia to do so diplomatically. The general consensus is that President Vladimir Putin has not done enough to make Assad act with restraint. It will be interesting to see how the US and Russia tackle the Syria issue when Tillerson and Lavrov meet for talks tomorrow.