On March 24, we met for the Tokyo Conference 2023, the seventh annual event in this series bringing together participants of thinktanks and others from ten countries around the world: the G7 member nations of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, plus Brazil, India, and Singapore. Other guests were invited too.
As the last two events were held online, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this event marked the first time in three years that these participants who share the values of freedom and democracy were able to meet in person.
Over a year has passed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the war rages unbated, and the peaceful order of the world is in growing disarray. The actions and reactions to this have further destabilized the global economy and left repercussions in multilateral cooperation leaving it to grind to a halt on many global issues such as energy resource utilization.
In addition, the increasingly intense competition between the US and China has increased the danger of a more fragmented world. There is a tendency to consider all issues only from a security perspective, and the view that the 21st century will be an era of confrontation between democracies and authoritarian regimes has taken root.
At this critical moment in history, conference participants gathered in Tokyo in the belief that it is time for countries to join together to prevent further conflict. We discussed these points and resolved to present this proposal to the Government of Japan, as host of this year's G7 Summit, and in particular to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, one of the political leaders who contributed to the establishment of the Tokyo Conference in 2017.
The participants in Tokyo Conference 2023 engaged in far-reaching discussion in seven sessions over two days and reached a common understanding on the following two points.
First, we should seek to prevent further fragmentation of the world. We must defend the rule of law and order, freedom, territorial integrity and human rights to build a more resilient and sustainable global governance system.
To accomplish this, the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the disruption it has caused in the international order must be brought to a just and equitable end that preserve the principle of territorial integrity as soon as possible. Efforts to cooperate in resolving issues that are international in nature should be intensified.
Second, we understand that we have special responsibilities as democratic nations. The freedom, equality, and basic human rights that our predecessors fought for and won are assets to be shared with all humanity. For democracy to increase its legitimacy within the international community, democratic countries must be trusted on the international political stage and by the people of the world.
That is why we must strengthen our democratic systems to increase the utility of democracies. We must take the lead in resolving global issues and, rather than over-escalate conflict, we must collaborate with countries, regardless of their domestic political systems, that are willing to solve the problems the world faces.
Based on this common understanding, we focused on the following five points.
1) The top priority for the international community is to bring the Russian aggression in Ukraine to a just and equitable end as soon as possible to rebuild peace and order. Efforts to provide military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine as well as to bring more countries on board in implementing more smart sanctions to Russia while considering their possible impacts on the international economy remain necessary. However, in order to lay the groundwork for the start of peace negotiations as soon as possible, more countries need to come together. G7 nations should engage in dialogue with these countries to facilitate the process.
2) The global economy faces very serious challenges and the decoupling of the US and China continues, but we must protect open trade based on sound and fair competition to preserve economic innovation and growth. We must unite to defend the rule of law, freedom, and human rights, and must continue to work together for the development of economic freedom. We need to rebuild free trade globally and regionally and engage in the rule making process. The world must shy away from sharp division and protectionism. G7 countries should give high priority to climate change crisis situation, and they share the need to address the issue urgently in an equitable way.
3) Sharply rising interest rates and price of natural resources caused by the global inflation destabilized the world economy and finance, thus weakening growth prospects in emerging and developing countries and exacerbating debt problems in many developing countries. The G7 countries should manage the concerned world economic crises, and put in greater effort to ensure that the Common Framework to solve this debt crisis operates effectively. We also urge China to fulfill its responsibilities as a major lender and demonstrate its willingness to engage in international cooperation to solve this issue.
4) The sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine have resulted in a sharp rise in the price of oil, natural gas, and other resources, and there is now a growing trend toward resource nationalism with intense competition for resources with some countries unable to secure the resources needed to maintain the lives of their citizens. The G7 countries should expand their efforts to support the management of demand and supply in developing countries through comprehensive support for the introduction of energy-saving technologies, addressing supply-chain management problems, and assisting in the development of alternative sources of critical resources. At the same time, they should expand their efforts in resource diplomacy with other G7 partners through the joint development of new technology, information sharing and contingency finance.
5) To restore democracy, G7 must rebuild its middle class and stabilize the social bedrock upon which their democracy is built. To achieve this, we must not only increase wages, but also invest in the cultivation of people able to adapt to new changes and diverse values, and thereby increase the resilience of democracies itself. To this end, democracies need to acknowledge the differences in democratic political systems and work in partnership with the many countries with whom they share common ground. Such partnerships will serve as a bastion that protects the democracy, freedom, and the rule of law that we all believe in.
24 March 2023
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