世界基準のビジネス英語能力テスト

Despite Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's recent declaration that Japan will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, heated debate continues over the pros and cons of participating in the free-trade initiative.
One question that has surfaced repeatedly since Noda's announcement is whether Japan can opt out of the U.S.-backed TPP if the government decides taking part would undermine national interests.
Experts say Japan reserves the right to pull out of any international agreement at any time, but others say it would be practically impossible for Tokyo to do so once it joins the TPP talks, because of Washington's strong desire to include its fourth-largest trading partner and the world's third-largest economy in the regional trade pact.
When grilled by opposition lawmakers during an Upper House Budget Committee meeting Tuesday, Noda insisted his decision was based on the rationale that joining the TPP would be in Japan's best interests.
"But this doesn't mean Japan will remain in the talks if it turns out they are not in line with our national interests," he said, hinting Japan could quit the negotiations if the government judges the free-trade framework would not be beneficial to the economy.
Joining the TPP is backed by major businesses, which believe Japan's entry would open up new markets free of import tariffs and boost exports, but is fiercely opposed by the agricultural industry, which fears that a flood of cheap farm produce imports would devastate the sector and drive many farmers out of business.
During a meeting with junior Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers Wednesday, DPJ kingpin Ichiro Ozawa reportedly said Noda's lack of foreign policy experience would allow the U.S. to manipulate its long-standing ally.
Washington views Japan's TPP participation as necessary for the U.S. to maintain a strong economic presence in the Asia-Pacific region, especially as China's political and economic clout continues to expand.
During a speech Monday in Okayama Prefecture, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said, "the center of gravity of the world has switched from the Atlantic to the Pacific," and stressed that Washington and Tokyo need to work together to contain China's growing assertiveness.
But when asked if Japan could back out of the trade deal if it judged that its national interests would be undermined, Kissinger suggested Tokyo should look at the broader picture.
"I consider it natural that Japan look after the agricultural interests of its own population, but in our present world the challenge is to relate the national interest to the common interest," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said.
Experts, however, say that as a rule of thumb, nations are free to withdraw from any international agreement if their national interests are threatened.
In a recent blog entry, Lower House lawmaker Kenji Eda, a member of Your Party, a minor opposition force, said there have been countless examples of nations deciding not to follow through on international treaties.
The U.S., for example, backed out of the Kyoto Protocol and still remains the only signatory yet to ratify the pact aimed at combatting global warming.
The World Trade Organization's Doha Round of trade negotiations, which began in 2001, has been stalled since 2008 because member countries are deeply divided over key issues, including agricultural and industrial tariffs.
In addition, free-trade talks that kicked off in 2007 between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union reached an impasse in 2009, and the EU has since switched to bilateral trade negotiations with separate ASEAN nations.
"As can be seen, in the world of international treaties and agreements, each country, whether it be large, small, developed or developing, makes its own decisions on whether to join, sign, ratify, disagree or withdraw according to its national interest," Your Party's Eda, a former trade ministry bureaucrat, said on his blog.
"So it is a misconception or calculated propaganda to say that Japan 'cannot back out once it has joined the TPP negotiations,' " he said.
The TPP started out as an agreement among four nations － Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore － and discussions to expand the agreement are currently under way with the U.S., Australia, Malaysia, Peru and Vietnam.
Japan, together with Canada and Mexico, informed the international community of its intentions to join the talks during the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Honolulu.
But it is possible Japan will have to wait up to six months before it can actually enter the negotiations and start influencing decisions.
The participation of any new country in the TPP talks must first be approved by the nine nations currently involved.
The U.S. will also have to wait for Congress to endorse Japan's entry － a 90-day process － which will be followed by several months of preparations.
Critics say that by the time Japan takes its seat at the table it will be too late to have a big say in the TPP's broad framework and rule-making process, which are already at an advanced stage. The talks are expected to be concluded by late 2012.
Noda, who has promised to "protect what needs to be protected, and win what needs to be won" at the talks, has said produce such as rice － currently protected by a 778 percent import tariff － "is one of the sensitive products," although he didn't say whether he will push for rice to be excluded from the free-trade agreement, which in principle aims to abolish all import tariffs among members.
Sheila Smith, a senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent and nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, said talks on international agreements of this scale almost always run into difficulties, but stressed Japan's participation would be worth the effort in the long run.
"I think every participating country understands there will be difficulties ahead. No trade agreement that is meaningful is easy. Look at the bilateral effort by the U.S. and South Korea, or the protracted process of GATT/WTO or NAFTA," she said, referring to the General Agreement on Tariffs and the Trade and the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"But building opportunities for enhancing our competitiveness and creating new opportunities for strengthening our chances for increased economic growth is worth the effort," she said.

• 続き（日本語解説へ）

不当な扱いなら離脱可能、と専門家

野田首相のTPP参加表明後も、交渉参加の是非をめぐる議論が続いている。その論点の一つが、日本政府が国益を損ねると判断した場合、交渉から離脱できるのかということだ。日本はいかなる国際協定からも離脱する権利があると専門家らは言うが、実際には、米政府が貿易相手国・経済大国である日本の参加を強く求めるなかで離脱を表明するのは不可能との意見もある。野田首相は参議院予算委員会で野党議員に対し、「国益を損ねてまで交渉に参加することはない」と述べ、離脱の可能性を示唆した。日本でTPP参加を支持しているのは大企業で、関税撤廃による新たな市場の開拓と輸出拡大を期待しているが、農業関係者は安価な農産物の大量流入で農業も農家も破たんするとの恐れから、強い反発を示している。中国の台頭を念頭に、アジア太平洋地域で経済的存在感を維持したい米政府は、日本のTPP参加および日米の協力関係強化を重視している。しかし、通例、国益が損なわれる場合はどんな国でも国際協定から離脱できると専門家らは言う。米政府が京都議定書の交渉から離脱し、地球温暖化防止の条約に批准していないことを例に挙げる人もいる。日本はTPP参加を表明したものの、参加国の承認を経て交渉の席につくことができるのは半年後の可能性もあり、その時点で2012年末の協定調印を目指したTPPの枠組みとルール策定作業に対する日本の発言権はほとんどないとの意見もある。米外交問題評議会のシーラ・スミス氏は、TPPのような大規模な国際協定はいつも難航するが、競争力を高め、経済成長を促すといった長期的な視点で見れば日本は参加すべきだと指摘している。

• grilled 厳しく追及されて
• free of import tariffs 輸入関税のない
• manipulate long-standing ally 付き合いの長い同盟国を巧みに扱う
• contain China's growing assertiveness 中国の影響力拡大を抑える
• challenge is to relate the national interest to the common interest 国益をいかに国家間の利益に結び付けるかが課題
• follow through 従う
• signatory 締約国
• stalled こう着状態にある
• impasse 行き詰まり
• endorse 承認する