Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs Robert D. Hormats

Remarks at Waseda University
November 16, 2009
Tokyo, Japan

UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE HORMATS: Thank you very much, Vice President Horiguchi and Dean Ono and Dr. Shirai. This is a great honor for me to be invited here this evening to have an opportunity to speak to you about a number of very important issues, I think, on the international agenda and in the relationship between our two countries.

Years ago I had an opportunity to come to Japan for the very first time in 1972. The world was very different at that point because the United States had just announced that it was about to begin relations at an early stage with China, which caused shock in Japan called “the Nixon shock.” At that time there was a concern in Japan that the United States in normalizing or beginning normalized relations with China would turn its back on its ally Japan and devote all of its energy and attention to its relationship with China. But those concerns did not materialize and I’m very happy to say that after all these years the United States’ relationship with Japan remains solid.

We see Japan as a major ally, as a major friend, as a major partner, and as a major leader in dealing with global issues. So the friendship, the reliance, and the solidarity are just as strong today as they ever have been. I’m confident that the strength of that relationship, the strength of our alliance, the strength of our friendship will last for many, many more years and many, many more decades to come because it’s in the interest of the United States, it’s in the interest of Japan, and I believe it’s very much in the interest of the world. It’s particularly, I think, desirable from my point of view – it’s a particular honor to have a chance to be with you, the students of this great university, because you’re the ones who are going to build the new relationship between our two countries in the future and just as importantly, if you look at the next decade, or two or three, as the “Pacific Era,” the “Century of the Pacific,” the “Decade of the Pacific,” you are the ones who are going to make that happen. The “Pacific Generation,” the “Pacific Future,” is going to be built by Americans and Japanese and particularly American students and Japanese students. You’re the future of this relationship and therefore it’s, I think, particularly important for us to have a dialogue about the nature of our relationship in the future and the kind of partnership that our two countries and our two peoples can have going forward in our mutual interests.

This has been a remarkable week in U.S.-Japanese and U.S.-Asian relations. First, the visit of President Obama to Tokyo and the speech he gave which described the importance the United States attaches to the relationship with Japan and to its overall relations with Asia. Then the summit that took place in Singapore of the countries of APEC which brought together a diverse group of nations from both sides of the Pacific Ocean to discuss economic cooperation and to make progress in strengthening economic ties between the countries of Asia and the countries of North America and South America. And the fact that the President came and participated in this summit and many other cabinet members including Secretary Clinton, our Commerce Secretary – Secretary Locke, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and many others came demonstrated the level and the depth of America’s commitment to working within the Pacific Basin region in strengthening economic ties. Then there was the first-ever summit between an American President and the heads of state of the ASEAN countries of Southeast Asia. This is the first time that had ever occurred, again underscoring the importance of the American commitment to Asia. More broadly, there is a very active cooperation between our two countries, between Japan and the United States, on a wide range of bilateral issues and on a wide range of multilateral issues as well.

There are always going to be bilateral issues between two big countries like the United States and Japan. Any two countries that have as much trade and as much economic contact and as much investment as our two countries have with one another are inevitably going to have trade frictions which occur from time to time. The key is to resolve them in an orderly and a constructive way. There are important subjects that the United States and Japan are talking about right now that both sides, I think, are trying to make progress on. We have well-known issues between the United States and Japan on the access of American beef to Japan, there are issues that we would like to ensure a level playing field for American insurance companies vis-à-vis Japan Post, there are discussions on open skies in aviation. These are just some of the issues where we hope we can make progress, constructive progress, in dealing with the government of Japan. These issues are very important to the United States and we hope for constructive progress on all three of them.

But there are also a number of multilateral issues on which our two nations are working together and these are some issues that relate to ensuring the effectiveness and the strength and the vitality of the global economic system. These issues include such important things as climate change and avoiding and reversing the process of global warming – a very high priority for our President, President Obama, for Secretary Clinton, and for large numbers of people in the United States and, I believe, large numbers of people in Japan as well. The second issue is cooperation to develop alternative sources of energy – alternatives to use of oil, for instance, solar power, wind power, new kinds of batteries, efficient automobiles – a whole range of new types of energy technology, green technology that will enable us to produce new sources of energy and utilize energy more efficiently.

I was looking at the catalog from Waseda University on research activities and I note that there’s a great deal of work being done here on new types of energy, on electric cars – there’s a picture of it right here – and many things of that nature, so the kind of work that’s being done in these areas is not just between governments but also involves the great universities such as Waseda and great universities on the American side of the Pacific working together in cooperation on various kinds of projects. That can also produce the kind of breakthroughs we need for clean energy technology and new types of energy.

There’s also a great deal that we can do to help the developing countries of the world to deal with problems such as food security or to help them to create a more stable social environment, or to overcome a number of their problems of poverty and health and lack of nutrition. Both countries, Japan and the United States, have been very generous in providing assistance and that’s an area where we think our two countries can work together to strengthen our support for these countries and find ways that we can cooperate to make our assistance even more effective.

The government of Japan has been very, very generous in helping Afghanistan and Pakistan. These are two countries, as we know, that are experiencing enormous difficulties and I just want to take this opportunity to convey the thanks of the people of the United States and the United States Government for the very constructive role the Government of Japan is playing with respect to these two countries that need the kind of help Japan is providing.

Japan and the United States are also cooperating in a number of other fora like the Group of 20. One of our goals in the United States and one of the goals of the Government of Japan is to help to strengthen the global economic and financial system and that means bringing new countries into that system, enabling them to take their responsibilities for maintaining the stability of that system and also giving them the benefits that they can get out of a greater degree of engagement. Our two countries are working very closely with the rising economic powers of the world who deserve a place, who deserve a seat at the table, and we’re trying to find better ways of cooperating with them in strengthening the global economy.

Our two countries are also working together within the Group of 20 and other fora to rebalance the global economy, to reduce some of the large imbalances of trade, some of the large financial imbalances, so that we can have a more stable global environment. President Obama spoke about this and it’s an ongoing topic of discussion, not simply between the United States and Japan, but within the Group of 20 in which the United States and Japan are playing a very cooperative role with one another.

So let me conclude by just summarizing a few key points. One, that we in the United States see Japan as a partner in dealing with almost all of the big global issues that the world faces – environmental issues, energy issues, financial issues, trade issues, dealing with problems like the H1N1 virus, other kinds of global health issues, helping developing countries to overcome poverty. Almost every major issue that I can think of in the world is going to be resolved more easily and more effectively and more quickly if Japan and the United States work cooperatively with one another and with other major economies and major countries. This is, I think, an important challenge for the future of the world and it is essential that our two countries cooperate in all these areas.

Second, we respect Japan’s leadership. Japan has done a very impressive job in creating an energy efficient economy. Japan has been a very generous supporter of development around the world. Japan has been a leader in dealing with a wide range of global financial issues. Many of the companies that are based in Japan have been technological leaders in areas such as science, medicine, automobiles, and various kinds of new Internet technology. So this is a society that has the ability to overcome its financial and economic difficulties and to continue to play a very strong leadership role in the world of the 21st century.

So again, I want to thank all of you, Dr. Horiguchi, and your colleagues for inviting me to speak today. It is a great honor to speak to the students of this highly respected university. I’ve been privileged to have the opportunity to give this address and I’m now quite open to answer any questions you have or hear any comments that you might wish to offer as well.