Global Opinion Leaders Summit 2019 (2)

  Harper claimed that amid such global upheaval, "middle power countries such as Canada, Japan, which he said have "avoided much of the upheaval that we see in the rest of the Western World should work together  and with others to "sustain a rules-based world order.

  He supported Japanese Prime Minister Abe's policy of promoting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) even after Trump withdrew America from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, of which Canada is also a member. 

  He also expressed unequivocal support for the Group of Seven Advanced Nations, which he said remain important due to common interests and values despite the rise in influence of the Group of 20 after the financial crisis. But he called for bolstering the G7 by increasing its Asia-Pacific  weighing with the addition of Australia and South Korea. 

  Then, during the panel discussion, Rui Matsumura, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) member in the Diet's Upper House,agreed with Harper that democracies will win out, but pressed him on whether China, with its strong government, has an advantage in long-term planning.

  Admitting that China has accomplished great things and is almost certainly destined to become the world's largest economy, he cautioned against giving too much credit to China's central planning and its role. To him China's biggest contribution was that it freed the entrepreneurial spirit of many of its people, and he hoped it should continue down that road. He said, "If China is actually going to continue to move forward and be a dominant country then China should be going further in that direction."  

  Dr.Handa also cast doubt on China's centralized control. He said, "I don't think it's necessarily good to make a long-term plan as you can see from the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

From left, Go Ito, director of research at the foreign policy think tank Japan Forum on International Relations;
Lower House member Minoru Kiuchi;
WSD Chairman Dr.Haruhisa Handa;
former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper;
Lower House member YoshinoriSuematsu;
and Upper House member Rui Matsukawa
at this year's Global Opinion Leaders Summit.



WSD

(source: THE JAPAN TIMES, Oct.29,2019）