French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday arrived in Japan for bilateral talks after a testing time for the longstanding alliance between Paris and Tokyo following the arrest of former auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn.
Macron’s trip comes just days before Japan hosts the G20 summit in Osaka, and the French leader was to hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before meeting newly enthroned Japanese Emperor Naruhito today.
Macron would become only the second foreign leader to meet Naruhito, who took the throne last month after his father abdicated.
Abe and Macron have stressed that their ties remain strong, despite tensions brought to the fore by the arrest of Ghosn, who once led an alliance of Japan’s Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors and France’s Renault, but profound differences remain over how that partnership of automakers should evolve, with Renault seeking closer integration with Nissan and the Japanese firm resisting.
Ahead of the trip, the Elysee Palace said that Macron would emphasize “France’s strong attachment to the [auto] alliance,” adding that he hopes to hear support from Japan and Nissan for “the continuation and consolidation of this alliance.”
Macron’s comments on the subject would be watched closely by Japanese officials, given that the French state holds a 15 percent stake in Renault.
Concerns expressed by Paris already scuppered initial talks between Renault and Fiat Chrysler over a potential merger — a plan that was received coolly by Nissan.
However, Macron is likely to stay mum on the specifics of the case against Ghosn, who is out on bail in Tokyo under strict conditions as he prepares for trial on four charges of financial misconduct.
A lawyer for Ghosn urged the French leader ahead of his trip to raise human rights issues with Abe, after criticism over the lengthy pretrial detention of the former auto executive and the strict conditions of his bail.
The Japanese and French leaders would also be looking to coordinate on the major international issues that are set to dominate this week’s G20 summit.
Both Japan and France, which is to chair a G7 meeting in August, back multilateral solutions to the major international crises of the day: The US-China trade dispute that is weighing on the global economy and tensions with Iran that risk spiraling into a Middle East conflict.
Abe earlier this month met Iranian leaders in Tehran in a bid to serve as mediator with Washington, but there has been little sign of a rapprochement, with Iran pledging to step back further from a nuclear deal from which Washington has already withdrawn.
Middle East tensions and the ongoing trade dispute look set to overshadow all else at the G20 summit, but Japan and France are to work to prevent the summit from “becoming a club for bilateral confrontation between China and the United States,” the Elysee Palace said.
After talks with Abe and the emperor, Macron and his wife Brigitte are to briefly visit Kyoto for a cultural visit before continuing on to Osaka where the G20 summit takes place tomorrow and Saturday.
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