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How Japan Is Reckoning With Its Increasingly Tense Neighborhood · Stephanomics

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hello, Stephanomics. Here the podcast that brings you the global economy,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: and this week we're joining world leaders in Japan, virtually
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: at least as they head to the G seven Heads
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  Speaker 1: of Government summit in Hiroshima. It wasn't so long ago
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: that people spoke wistfully about getting rid of the G
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: seven altogether. Having just the US, Canada, Japan and a
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  Speaker 1: bunch of European countries sitting around the table just didn't
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  Speaker 1: feel like a representative sample of the global economy. But
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: today a lot of extra countries get invited. Plus everything
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: going on in the world has left the G seven
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  Speaker 1: needing a safe space. The change in geopolitics and economics
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  Speaker 1: is particularly evident in Asia, and perhaps nowhere is it
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  Speaker 1: more challenging to policymakers than in Japan. I'm getting into
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  Speaker 1: all of that in a few minutes with distinguished thinkers
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  Speaker 1: and authors Richard McGregor and Rory metcalf. But first, here's
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  Speaker 1: our economy and Government reporter Yoshiaki Nohara in Hiroshima, Mokdo.
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  Speaker 2: It's August sixth, twenty twenty two. The clock hits eight
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  Speaker 2: fifteen in the morning, precisely seventy seven years ago. This
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  Speaker 2: time the Wall's first nuclear bomb exploded. Here in Hiroshima, Japan,
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  Speaker 2: I'm standing among hundreds of people observing a moment of
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  Speaker 2: silence for the victims. Japanese Prime Minister Formio Shida steps
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  Speaker 2: forward and dedicates a wreath.
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  Speaker 3: We must not repeat the calamity on that day seventy
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  Speaker 3: seven years ago. This is our nation's responsibility as the
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  Speaker 3: only even hit by an atomic bomb, and it's my
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  Speaker 3: preach as Prime Minister hum Hiroshima.
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  Speaker 2: This coming weekend, Hiroshima will be hosting a G seven summit,
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  Speaker 2: and Chida will reigrate his pledge for peace. But in
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  Speaker 2: the background stakes are higher than ever. Russia is escalating
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  Speaker 2: nuclear threats in Ukraine, North Korea keeps firing missiles, and
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  Speaker 2: China is putting greater pressure on Taiwan. They are all
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  Speaker 2: Japan's neighbors.
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  Speaker 4: Japanese Prime Minister Kishida FuMO ordered the Defense finance ministers
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  Speaker 4: on December fifth to secure forty three trillion yen for
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  Speaker 4: defense spending from fest of All twenty twenty three.
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  Speaker 2: Ironically, peace is often preserved through the supply of heavy weapons.
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  Speaker 2: Kishida's ordered a historic increase in defense spending. Japan's military
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  Speaker 2: budget is now said to be two percent of its
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  Speaker 2: economic output. That would rank third largest in the world,
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  Speaker 2: only after the US and China.
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  Speaker 4: Japan had said multiple times this year that it will
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  Speaker 4: drastically strengthen defense capable.
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  Speaker 2: NOWA is counting on private companies to make sophisticated weapons
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  Speaker 2: to arm Japan's self defense poces, and the key weapons
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  Speaker 2: factory is located in, of all places, Hiroshima. The Japan
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  Speaker 2: Still Works Hiroshima plant sprawls over a flat plain on
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  Speaker 2: eastern edge of the city. The company let me enter
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  Speaker 2: the factory and watch them making artilleries and canons, but
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  Speaker 2: they wouldn't let me use any sound or take any photos.
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  Speaker 2: It's a secret operation here and even locals are dimly
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  Speaker 2: aware of what happens inside. So I would just describe
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  Speaker 2: what I saw. Jebre factory specializes in making activities. I
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  Speaker 2: saw bunch of cannons and guns. They would be loaded
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  Speaker 2: on warships and tanks. I looked into the barrel of
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  Speaker 2: a cannon. I saw spiral groups inside that will allow
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  Speaker 2: shells to spiral through the air in a stable trajectory
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  Speaker 2: and hit targets during the tour. The smell of machine
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  Speaker 2: oil hang in the air. There was a constant bus
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  Speaker 2: from cutting steel. Some beams supporting the ceiling were rusty,
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  Speaker 2: which wasn't surprising given the factory was built before World
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  Speaker 2: War Two. The local managers who gave me the tour
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  Speaker 2: said they never let a journalist in before. They all
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  Speaker 2: declined to be quoted. They said their families might be
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  Speaker 2: harassed with the nature of their work was publicized. After all,
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  Speaker 2: this is Hiroshima, the Wall's mecca for past fismen. But
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  Speaker 2: then I met Kato arigatomas the Chio. Kato was fifteen
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  Speaker 2: years old when she began working at the j stew
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  Speaker 2: factory in nineteen forty four. At her old girls school,
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  Speaker 2: students were forced to skip classes and work at factories
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  Speaker 2: while their fathers, brothers and uncles was sent to fight.
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  Speaker 2: Kato and her classmates pulled twelve hour shifts making bullets
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  Speaker 2: around the clock.
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  Speaker 3: That Couninotoman, it's a good letter.
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  Speaker 5: We were told all the Wifelome Elementary School that we
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  Speaker 5: shouldn't spare our lives in order to stop donation. We
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  Speaker 5: thought we must work hard for Japan. That was all
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  Speaker 5: we care about.
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  Speaker 2: Demo On August sixth, nineteen forty five, Kato took Adeo.
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  Speaker 2: Because the factory was closed for a routine power saving day,
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  Speaker 2: Kato and some friends planned to go swimming outside town.
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  Speaker 2: She was waiting for a train when the bomb hit up.
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  Speaker 2: She doesn't remember the blinding flash or deafening sound that
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  Speaker 2: other survivors would later recall. She just woke up on
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  Speaker 2: the ground, perhaps ten meters away from where she was standing,
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  Speaker 2: and found her two friends. One's face turned brown like
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  Speaker 2: a samber, the other's right arm was studied with shells
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  Speaker 2: of glass. They staggered toward a shelter where other survivors
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  Speaker 2: flooded in.
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  Speaker 5: The skin was killed off, all the while hanging from
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  Speaker 5: their fingernails. The three of us held all together and
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  Speaker 5: cry it were Chellish even in hell. I don't think
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  Speaker 5: it would be the horrible.
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  Speaker 6: Good Man and.
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  Speaker 2: The war ended soon afterwards, and Kato never returned to
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  Speaker 2: the factory, which stopped making weapons. In nineteen forty seven,
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  Speaker 2: Japan adapted a new constitution that the renownced war for
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  Speaker 2: good and pledged its armed forces wouldn't be maintained. Then
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  Speaker 2: the Korean and Cold Wars came about, threatening peace in
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  Speaker 2: the area. Jess w started making weapons again. The constitution
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  Speaker 2: remains the same even today. But in reality, Japan has
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  Speaker 2: built self defense forces, which is military, and companies have
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  Speaker 2: long made weapons for them. Now it's going to take
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  Speaker 2: a lot of work to get to parent's defense industry
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  Speaker 2: ready to meet Seer's goals. Many contractors have shattered defense
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  Speaker 2: operations in recent years. They can barely make ends meet
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  Speaker 2: with low profit margins in government contracts. They cannot export
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  Speaker 2: their products easily either, due to tight regulations. Defense ministry
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  Speaker 2: manager costchemets Motto told me he cannot keep track of
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  Speaker 2: how many are gone.
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  Speaker 6: There is not much profitability or possibility for expansion. That's
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  Speaker 6: why new players, investments, or resources aren't coming in. As
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  Speaker 6: a result, our technical strengths has weakened in our advantage
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  Speaker 6: is being threatened. That's the state of the defense industry.
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  Speaker 2: Shots were fired at Camp Kaitechi for self defense poces.
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  Speaker 2: The camp is just next to the js W factory.
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  Speaker 2: Soldiers who are training and preparing for the camp's seventy
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  Speaker 2: second anniversary. I struck a conversation with Koki Hiroka, a
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  Speaker 2: twenty one year old medic. Hiroka told me that people
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  Speaker 2: may be rullying for peace, but the officers still have
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  Speaker 2: to be ready for enemy attacks.
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  Speaker 6: I'd be lying if I say I'm not scared. But
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  Speaker 6: if we quit one after another, nobody will be left
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  Speaker 6: to protect Japan. I try to gether my courage. It's
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  Speaker 6: my duty to serve.
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  Speaker 2: On August sixth, last year, peace activists rallied along the
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  Speaker 2: main street in Hiroshma. They chanted against the Kishida's moves,
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  Speaker 2: which they considered as weakening the constitution and arming Japan.
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  Speaker 2: But Paul's are showing more people are favoring a booster
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  Speaker 2: to defense spending and gaining more military capability. Even Kato,
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  Speaker 2: who worked for js W as a girl, is becoming
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  Speaker 2: less idealistic. She is now ninety four. Every year on
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  Speaker 2: August sixth, she cries at the ceremony to commemorate the
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  Speaker 2: nearly seven hundred students and teachers from her school killed
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  Speaker 2: by the Bond. The idea of a rearmed Japan breaks
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  Speaker 2: her heart, but she also has no illusions about peace keeping.
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  Speaker 5: Has renounced to war. But if others are chance, Japan
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  Speaker 5: will have to protect.
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  Speaker 2: For now that place. Bell continues to talk in for
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  Speaker 2: Boomberg News, Am Yosha.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that was such a thoughtful and evocative piece there
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  Speaker 1: from Hiroshima by Yoshi Hara, and there's there's a lot
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  Speaker 1: of strands there that would be worth following up. And
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to talk to two experts now who could
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  Speaker 1: run away with any one of them. Richard McGregor is
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  Speaker 1: an Australian journalist, writer and author. He is currently working
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  Speaker 1: as a Senior Fellow at the Loewi Institute based in Sydney, Australia,
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  Speaker 1: and has written numerous extremely influential books on China, including
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  Speaker 1: The Party, Asia's Reckoning and more recently Sijinpink The Backlash.
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  Speaker 1: We also have Rory Metcalf, who has been head of
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  Speaker 1: the National Security College at the Australian's National University for
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  Speaker 1: a long time. He's also written a lot of influential books,
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  Speaker 1: including most recently Indo Pacific Empire, China America and The
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  Speaker 1: Contest for the World Pivotal Region. Well. One reason obviously
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  Speaker 1: we wanted to go to Hiroshima is that Prime Minister
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  Speaker 1: Kishida has himself chosen that as the location for this
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  Speaker 1: weekend's G seven Leader's Summit. Rory, there's clearly a message there.
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  Speaker 1: The symbolism is about the dangers of unrestrained geopolitical conflict,
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  Speaker 1: but the military build up in Hiroshima itself, which she
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  Speaker 1: talks about in that piece, you know, underscores that to
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  Speaker 1: a you've pieced, Japan now thinks you have to increase
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  Speaker 1: preparations for war. So, just stepping back a little, you know,
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  Speaker 1: how much of a change does this represent in Japan's strategy.
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  Speaker 7: So, Stephanie, it does seem to point to a dissonance
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  Speaker 7: in the way that Japan thinks and acts strategically in
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  Speaker 7: the world. But in fact this isn't so new, you know.
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  Speaker 7: For the past fifteen years, almost twenty years now, I
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  Speaker 7: think Japan has begun to emerge as a strategic actor
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  Speaker 7: in the Indo Pacific region. Indeed, the very idea of
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  Speaker 7: a connected Indo Pacific region which kind of enables countries
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  Speaker 7: like India and Japan to work together, or India in
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  Speaker 7: Australia or the Quad to work together, was driven in
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  Speaker 7: significant part by Japan, by Japanese leadership, by Prime Minister,
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  Speaker 7: the late Prime Minister Abe. I think it's really important
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  Speaker 7: to bear in mind that this is not the kind
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  Speaker 7: of militarization of Japan that the Chinese like to warn
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  Speaker 7: us all about. It's still relatively restrained, and it's really
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  Speaker 7: about Japan trying to adopt a defense posture that most countries,
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  Speaker 7: the most powerful countries in the world, would recognize as
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  Speaker 7: as being a pretty normal thing to do. But it
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  Speaker 7: is a big change for Japan, and it points to
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  Speaker 7: a Japan that's more sober and realistic about the realities
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  Speaker 7: of armed force in the world. So the lesson I
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  Speaker 7: draw is how well is Japan go to strike the
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  Speaker 7: new balance of diplomacy, deterrence and a I guess, more
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  Speaker 7: realistic effort at economic prosperity that reduces the risks that
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  Speaker 7: come with globalization and connectiveness.
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  Speaker 1: Richard, I guess I should We could go straight on
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  Speaker 1: from there. I mean, how realistic is that effort by Japan.
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  Speaker 8: Well, in some respects, you know, most of the attention
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  Speaker 8: on the you know, the Japanese efforts to rebuild its
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  Speaker 8: military focused on money. So in some ways raising the
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  Speaker 8: money is easy. Spending it is difficult for multiple reasons.
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  Speaker 8: You know, in post war Japan, the Ministry of the military,
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  Speaker 8: you know, self defense forces they're called, by the way,
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  Speaker 8: which tells you something. As the military in Japan has
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  Speaker 8: been a very low prestige and low profile institution, You
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  Speaker 8: rarely see Japanese military officers on the street in their
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  Speaker 8: uniform in Tokyo or elsewhere, and that's been quite deliberate
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  Speaker 8: because they didn't want to attract attention to themselves. The
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  Speaker 8: military inside Japan has really been seen more as a
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  Speaker 8: disaster relief organization rather than an organization which can really
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  Speaker 8: fight and win wars. So for all those reasons, the
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  Speaker 8: government might have lots of money to spend, but they're
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  Speaker 8: going to struggle to recruit people and train people and
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  Speaker 8: keep them. With a declining population and a still slightly
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  Speaker 8: growing economy, there's many more jobs on offer than people
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  Speaker 8: there are people to fill them. They're going to really
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  Speaker 8: struggle to actually fulfill the task that mister Kishiderra set
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  Speaker 8: for them, that is to build a much more modern military,
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  Speaker 8: a much more mobile military, and a military which is
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  Speaker 8: much more suited to the perilous strategic circumstances that Japan
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  Speaker 8: now finds itself in.
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  Speaker 1: Rory Richard's talked about sort of the very practical problems
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  Speaker 1: involved in this. I guess, as an economist, I look
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  Speaker 1: at a much more basic issue that even though the
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  Speaker 1: political approach, that geopolitical stance with respect to China may
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  Speaker 1: have changed significantly over the last ten to twenty years,
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  Speaker 1: if you by any measure, that economic connectedness of Japan
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  Speaker 1: and China, and indeed probably every country in the world's
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  Speaker 1: connectedness to China has increased. So how is it going
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  Speaker 1: to be possible to keep on to keep those two
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  Speaker 1: things operating on separate tracks.
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  Speaker 7: I think in the medium to long term it's probably
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  Speaker 7: not realistic to keep those on separate tracks, or to
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  Speaker 7: do both. Unless China changes, you know, unless China becomes
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  Speaker 7: a less risky or reckless or coercive force on the
• 17:42
  Speaker 7: international stage, then something's going to have to give at
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  Speaker 7: some point. I'm not the economists in the room. It's
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  Speaker 7: important to distinguish trading relations and relationships and investment relationships
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  Speaker 7: for example, you know, going to the Australian experience with China.
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  Speaker 7: For example, of course, even during the ear of Chinese
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  Speaker 7: economic coercion or the phase of Chinese economic coersion against
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  Speaker 7: Australia over the past five years, you know, the trade
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  Speaker 7: relationship effectively grew, you know, signifally because of the price
• 18:11
  Speaker 7: of iron ore and China's dependence on Australian iron or
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  Speaker 7: but the investment relationship was already going downhill and effectively
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  Speaker 7: went over a cliff and will be hard to rebuild.
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  Speaker 7: So I think we do need to look below the
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  Speaker 7: surface of the numbers. I think it would be interesting
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  Speaker 7: to understand in Japan, particularly how the business business community
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  Speaker 7: is thinking about investment in China, is thinking about the
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  Speaker 7: risks that come with becoming to entangle even things like
• 18:42
  Speaker 7: the consular safety and welfare of their own staff and executives.
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  Speaker 7: And I think that's not only a Japan China story.
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  Speaker 7: That's a story for Australia, it's a story for Europe,
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  Speaker 7: of course, it's a story for the United States as well.
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  Speaker 7: I think the hardening of Japan's fence posture that we've seen,
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  Speaker 7: while that might be the pointy end of a more
• 19:05
  Speaker 7: robust national security response to a dark strategic environment, it's
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  Speaker 7: not the only response. And I'd be surprised if there
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  Speaker 7: isn't thinking in the Japanese system about, you know, what
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  Speaker 7: does the future of the supply chains look like, what
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  Speaker 7: does the future of critical technologies look like? And a
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  Speaker 7: lot of that will be I think informed by the
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  Speaker 7: kind of de risking approach that we've at least heard
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  Speaker 7: Europeans speak about at a at a leadership level, although
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  Speaker 7: we may not be seeing it happening across the board
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  Speaker 7: among corporates yet.
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  Speaker 1: Well, actually, Richard, I was going to ask you, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you do hear this language now of de risking the
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: relationship with China around the world rather than decoupling, which
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: sounds marvelous and I think, especially if you're a businessman
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  Speaker 1: who doesn't want to really completely untangle the supply chain
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  Speaker 1: with China, it sounds much better. But does it actually
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: mean anything? Is it possible?
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  Speaker 8: Well, it's not quite pigh in the sky, but it's
• 20:08
  Speaker 8: almost impossible for global economies to disentangle themselves from China.
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  Speaker 8: The good news, though, is that the same applies to
• 20:15
  Speaker 8: China itself, because China can't disentangle itself either. Now, obviously
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  Speaker 8: China has been trying to do that for many years.
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  Speaker 8: They've got their own sort of policies, so called dual circulation,
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  Speaker 8: in other words, that they can de risk their own
• 20:30
  Speaker 8: economy against the kinds of sanctions that America is pursuing
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  Speaker 8: against it right now. But I feel that the amount
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  Speaker 8: of decoupling or de risking that has taken place is
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  Speaker 8: pretty superficial compared to the depth of it. At the moment,
• 20:46
  Speaker 8: it's the word buzzword on everybody's lips, but if you
• 20:49
  Speaker 8: talk to business people in any detail, then it's just
• 20:54
  Speaker 8: about impossible. And that this is in fact quite a
• 20:56
  Speaker 8: positive thing, I would say in many respects, it can be.
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  Speaker 8: It's a negative thing to or rely on China, of course,
• 21:03
  Speaker 8: but it's positive in as much as it restrains Chinese behavior.
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  Speaker 8: Because the entire global economy really goes through China, Japan, Taiwan,
• 21:17
  Speaker 8: South Korea, to a lesser extent Southeast Asia. Any interruption
• 21:22
  Speaker 8: to that has an immediate and dramatic effect on the
• 21:25
  Speaker 8: global economy and on each economy individually. So I'm not
• 21:31
  Speaker 8: quite sure how anybody can get out of China, and
• 21:36
  Speaker 8: I hope that ultimately is a stabilizing factor in geopolitics
• 21:41
  Speaker 8: because it affects China as well.
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  Speaker 1: For many of people listening who are sitting in the US,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: they do only see this, or we often will only
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: see it through the US lens. So I think highlighting
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: that there are now these other relationships and other strategic
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: partnerships rising up is a good one. But Richard, I
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: did notice twenty sixteen was also the last time that
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: you had the G seven meetings, including the I think
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: there was a foreign minister meeting in Hiroshima. Since then,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: you've had the Trump administration, You've had now the Biden administration.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Out of the Biden administration, how has the US changed
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: the games? How has the US's emerging attitude to the
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: region affecting the way countries think about it?
• 22:29
  Speaker 8: Well, it depends what country you're in. Certainly the US
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  Speaker 8: has changed its geopolitical policies towards China, defense policies, and
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  Speaker 8: I think that started rather abruptly under Trump, but it's
• 22:42
  Speaker 8: you know, to give him credit, but it's been refined
• 22:45
  Speaker 8: and kept by President Biden. I think President Biden also
• 22:50
  Speaker 8: has also changed US economic policies. Not it's probably a
• 22:57
  Speaker 8: bit unfair to call it along Trumpian lines, but you know,
• 23:01
  Speaker 8: they maintained the tariffs against China. They're accelerating a form
• 23:06
  Speaker 8: of industry policy in the United States through the Inflation
• 23:10
  Speaker 8: Reduction Act, through various incentives to build semiconductor plants in
• 23:14
  Speaker 8: the United States, and of course the speech recent speech
• 23:17
  Speaker 8: by Jake Sullivan where he laid it out as part
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  Speaker 8: of a core part reindustrializing the United States, as a
• 23:25
  Speaker 8: core part of US geopolitical strategy. Now, this affects all
• 23:30
  Speaker 8: sorts of countries in different ways. You know, for example,
• 23:34
  Speaker 8: South Korea and Japan, which you want close relations with
• 23:38
  Speaker 8: the US and in fact depend on them, have had
• 23:41
  Speaker 8: to adjust their own domestic economic policies and tech policies
• 23:45
  Speaker 8: to fit in with that. A country like Australia, which
• 23:48
  Speaker 8: sees itself as a sort of renewable energy superpower, is
• 23:52
  Speaker 8: now going to struggle to attract the investment it needs
• 23:55
  Speaker 8: to do that because the Inflation Reduction Act is the
• 23:59
  Speaker 8: giant sucking sound which is taking you know, attracting global
• 24:03
  Speaker 8: capital to the United States instead of to other countries.
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  Speaker 8: The US thinks that it fell behind in strategic competition
• 24:11
  Speaker 8: with China and is now rushing to catch up again.
• 24:15
  Speaker 8: And so it's not going to take you know, it's
• 24:18
  Speaker 8: looking for leverage just about it at every point, and
• 24:23
  Speaker 8: that in some respects is extremely welcome in parts of
• 24:27
  Speaker 8: the region. But of course if the US pursues policies
• 24:31
  Speaker 8: like that, then it's going to rebound on them as well.
• 24:35
  Speaker 8: And I think particularly in the economic sense in Asia,
• 24:38
  Speaker 8: where you know, China is really i think starting to
• 24:43
  Speaker 8: streak well ahead at the moment, and where the US,
• 24:45
  Speaker 8: because of its suspicion of trade in the administration and
• 24:49
  Speaker 8: in Congress, is really struggling to catch up.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: I just have one one last question. There is one
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: event which is a long way away from from Hiroshima,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: but seems to have changed attitude quite significantly at summits
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: like this weekend's G seven summit, and that's of course,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That is an ongoing story. In fact,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: the long awaited counter offensive by Ukraine. We're certainly anticipating
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: it potentially in a matter of days. So Rory, how
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: much has Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's response to
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: it affected conversations like the ones the leaders are going
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: to have at Hiroshima.
• 25:36
  Speaker 7: Look seriously, I think, very seriously. I think that the
• 25:41
  Speaker 7: impact of Putin's disastrous and brutal decision to invade Ukraine
• 25:47
  Speaker 7: here in the Indo Pacific is pretty profound. It has
• 25:51
  Speaker 7: reinforced the national security and defensive aspect of Japan's state craft.
• 25:58
  Speaker 7: It's done the same here Australia. It's made it difficult, however,
• 26:03
  Speaker 7: for a number of other partners in the region to
• 26:05
  Speaker 7: work together. I think the fear of conflict in this
• 26:08
  Speaker 7: region has risen, I think has been heightened by Russia's
• 26:12
  Speaker 7: invasion of Ukraine. Now, paradoxically, you could make a case
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: that the day when shutin Pin will decide to invade
• 26:22
  Speaker 7: Taiwan to send the pla across the Taiwan straight, perhaps
• 26:26
  Speaker 7: that day has been delayed because Chinese forces have seen
• 26:32
  Speaker 7: how no battle plan survives first contact, and how the
• 26:36
  Speaker 7: Russian military is so poorly and grotesquely performed in Ukraine.
• 26:43
  Speaker 7: But we can't be sure, and so I think there's
• 26:45
  Speaker 7: now an open debate in this region about whether conflict
• 26:49
  Speaker 7: is more or less likely as a consequence of Ukraine,
• 26:54
  Speaker 7: Whether in fact Taiwan needs to be looking much more
• 26:56
  Speaker 7: robustly to its own defenses, and ultimately how important military
• 27:01
  Speaker 7: deterrence is. Now at the start of this conversation, we
• 27:05
  Speaker 7: talked a little bit about de risking and about the
• 27:09
  Speaker 7: economic and commercial calculations being made constantly as we study geopolitics.
• 27:15
  Speaker 7: And I would say that one consequence of the Ukraine conflict,
• 27:19
  Speaker 7: the Russian invasion here in the Indo Pacific is that
• 27:22
  Speaker 7: I encountered many more voices in business communities who are
• 27:27
  Speaker 7: worried about the reality of war as a factive life
• 27:31
  Speaker 7: in the twenty first century. Who know now that they
• 27:34
  Speaker 7: need to have at the very least contingency plans for
• 27:38
  Speaker 7: a Taiwan conflict, for their investments, for their personnel, for
• 27:44
  Speaker 7: their staff. Those are conversations that weren't happening three or
• 27:47
  Speaker 7: four years ago, even two or three years ago. And ultimately,
• 27:52
  Speaker 7: wherever the G seven lands on this issue, I mean,
• 27:55
  Speaker 7: I'm sure the Japanese would like to use the G
• 27:58
  Speaker 7: seven as a platque to be putting pressure both on
• 28:01
  Speaker 7: China and Russia. No matter where the summer tree goes
• 28:05
  Speaker 7: this week, these realities are going to remain in this region.
• 28:08
  Speaker 7: It's not the in that sense, you know, It's not
• 28:10
  Speaker 7: the globalized or corn ucopean world we were looking at
• 28:15
  Speaker 7: when we were talking Rosalie about the Asian century just
• 28:18
  Speaker 7: a decade or two ago.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: This is so fascinating. We could carry on for many,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: many more hours, but I know that we all have
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: to get on with our lives, and we have already
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: taken more time than I had suggested. So Richard McGregor,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: Rory Metcalf, thank you so much.
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: Thank you so much, thank you.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: Well, that's it for this episode of Stephanomics. We'll be
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: back next week. In the meantime, you can get a
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: lot more economic insight and news from the Bloomberg Terminal
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: website or app. This episode was produced by mangnus Henrickson,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Yang Yang and Summer Sadi, and the sound engineer for
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: the Hiroshima segment was Zion Lee, with special thanks to Yoshiahara,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Paul Jackson, Yoshito Okubo, kiko Uji, Khani Takashi, Nakamichi Torofujioka,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: Stacy Wrong, Richard McGregor, and Rory Metcalfe. The executive producer
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: of Stephanomics is Molly Smith and the head of Bloomberg
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Podcast is Sage Bowman.