Envisioned as Comprehensive, Strategic Diplomatic Undertaking Led by Private Sector

Through the New Civil Diplomacy Initiative, The Genron NPO will integrate and strengthen the systems for implementing the bilateral dialogues it has organized with China and South Korea in order to establish a broader-based order in East Asia

The Genron NPO, an independent think tank as a certified not-for-profit organization in Japan (President: Yasushi Kudo), today launched a New Civil Diplomacy Initiative aimed at facilitating private-sector efforts to help solve problems such as for defusing conflicts, in the East Asian region. This will integrate and strengthen the systems for implementing the bilateral dialogues it has organized with its Chinese and South Korean counterpart organizations. From now on, The Genron NPO will strive to establish a new, peaceful and stable order in a broader region in East Asia, not only through bilateral discussion but also through other forms of discussion. The New Civil Diplomacy Initiative will continue and further strengthen the bilateral dialogues, and at the same time, in several years' time, aim at inaugurating a permanent facility for a comprehensive, strategic multilateral private-sector dialogue to help communicate Japan's opinions about the challenges facing the international community, so that The Genron NPO's civil diplomatic activities will be enhanced.

The Genron NPO has organized bilateral dialogues with China over the past nine years in an effort to help improve governance in East Asia. A similar dialogue was held with South Korea for the first time this year. In particular, The Genron NPO adopted the so-called "No-War Pledge" with its Chinese counterpart as the first private-sector initiative of this kind at their dialogue late in October this year. This dialogue has been highly praised as a theater for civil diplomacy between the two countries. The series of bilateral dialogues is organized in step with public opinion surveys mutually held in each other's country. Intellectuals as dialogue participants exchange their views as "stakeholders" to find a solution to the problems in the region and their dialogues are linked to public opinion as they are disclosed to the public.

The New Civil Diplomacy Initiative will develop this method for civil diplomacy and public opinion polls will be held in each of the East Asian countries, including Japan. Based on the results of the polls, open debates will be organized, and the specifics of discussion will be broadly conveyed to the world through the media at home and abroad so that participants' discussions as stakeholders and the formation of public opinion may be linked to each other to find a solution.

The civil diplomatic method is aimed at generating such stakeholder discussions and public opinion based on a strong problem-solving will. Genron NPO President Kudo calls this initiative civil diplomacy accompanied with the power of "Genron" backed by sound public opinion, in short "Genron Diplomacy" (Genron is the Japanese term for opinions and public debate).

Now that the lack of governance in the East Asian region is becoming a destabilizing factor in global security, this kind of private sector-led diplomatic initiative is being sought. In East Asia, exclusive nationalist moves continue to mount, with people's worse sentiments toward each other's country amplified. This has made it difficult for the governments concerned to improve relations through government-to-government negotiations. Governmental efforts have limitations with regard to resolving the challenges of the improvement of governance in East Asia. When it comes to issues involving sovereignty, governmental diplomacy tends to stimulate nationalist sentiments as it becomes harder for governments to make compromises and their leeway in negotiations tends to be limited. This is a dilemma particular to intergovernmental diplomacy. Such diplomatic stalemates must be broken by the strength of public opinion.

The New Civil Diplomacy Initiative, while keeping in step with people's sentiment as shown in public opinion polls, will implement the Genron Diplomacy linked to a calm, high-quality discussion and pursue sound public opinion with stakeholder awareness. This civil diplomatic activity supported by sound public opinion with a firm problem-solving awareness, not based on a frivolous, emotional public opinion, will supplement and support efforts in intergovernmental diplomacy, and lay a foundation to create an environment in which the functions of intergovernmental diplomacy will be improved.

The New Civil Diplomacy Initiative will be implemented by an Executive Committee to be formed mainly by members of the Advisory Board of The Genron NPO. Following are the founding members of this committee:

From now on, the New Civil Diplomacy Initiative will actively engage itself in problem-solving efforts in the world and Asia, and speak up to convey Japan's policy ideas to other countries' peoples and the world, and at the same time, it will strive to help form international public opinion on global issues. It will also establish a base in Japan for multilateral dialogue designed to help improve governance in East Asia, and help improve Japan's ability to convey its opinions and increase its diplomatic presence. In addition, The Genron NPO will strengthen activities for discussions with other think tanks toward solving the challenges facing the world, and continuously disseminate the results of its dialogues with partner organizations to have Japan's opinions and its presence better heard, and felt in the international community.

About Tokyo-Beijing Forum

The Genron NPO built up a channel of high-level, private-sector dialogue with China Daily in 2005, when bilateral relations were at their low ebb. So far, the forum has been held for nine consecutive years and publicized the outcomes to the entire world. More than 100 high-caliber opinion leaders from both countries have participated in each annual meeting, which has developed into a principal channel of public diplomacy between Japan and China. Along with the annual forum, The Genron NPO and China Daily have been carrying out a joint opinion survey every year for the purpose of deepening mutual understanding.

About Japan-Korea Future Dialogue

The Japan-(South) Korea Future Dialogue was launched by The Genron NPO together with the East Asia Institute (EAI), a South Korean think tank, in May 2013 in an effort to start dialogue with South Korea, as The Genron NPO believed that the power of private-sector dialogue is also necessary to improve relations with South Korea, following the dialogue with China. There exists a strong mutual distrust between the peoples of Japan and South Korea. The two countries lack even a fundamental mutual understanding. This has led to a further worsening of relations between Japan and South Korea. In an effort to overcome this difficulty with the power of dialogue, The Genron NPO began a future-oriented discussion with the South Korean side by inaugurating a new venue of bilateral dialogue in which the two sides discuss problems of mutual interest as openly as possible while continuously watching the course of people's perceptions through public opinion surveys.