Diet Roundtable | Defending Universal Values in the Indo-Pacific Region: Japan's Role Post-Hiroshima Summit

Shortly after the 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit, JCIE hosted a private roundtable discussion featuring Ambassador Derek Mitchell, then president of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), as part of our program on Expanding Support for Democratic Governance. Seven Diet members from the ruling and opposition parties attended the discussion, which covered a wide variety of topics such as the importance of free and fair elections and transparency in order for democracies to thrive; disinformation as a shared challenge for Japan and the United States; and the relationship between democracy and other global challenges, such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting also served as an opportunity to engage Diet members on the importance of creating the Indo-Pacific Platform for Universal Values (IPPUV), an initiative led by JCIE’s Democracy for the Future (DFF) Study Group Chair, Ambassador Yukio Takasu. The IPPUV is intended to act as a regional mechanism to support a vibrant civil society and independent media.

PARTICIPANT LIST

Guest speaker

DEREK MITCHELL, President, National Democratic Institute (NDI)

Moderator

YUKIO TAKASU, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Human Security; Former Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations; Chair, JCIE Study Team on Democracy for the Future

Diet Members (alphabetical order)

TOSHIKO ABE, Member, House of Representatives (LDP)

TETSURO FUKUYAMA, Member, House of Councillors (CDP)

TAKUMA MIYAJI, Member, House of Representatives (LDP)

MASAHARU NAKAGAWA, Member, House of Representatives (CDP)

SHU SAKURAI, Member, House of Representatives (CDP)

KEIZO TAKEMI, Member, House of Councillors (LDP)

TSUYOSHI YAMAGUCHI, Member, House of Representatives (LDP)

JCIE Study Team on Democracy for the Future

MAIKO ICHIHARA, Professor, Institute for Global Governance Research, Graduate School of Law, School of International and Public Policy, Hitotsubashi University; Co-Director, JCIE Study Team on Democracy for the Future

Observers and JCIE/Japan

ANIK KUREBAYASHI, Intern, Office of Hon. Takuma Miyaji

KAO OKADA, Intern, Office of Hon. Toshiko Abe

ISAO KANO, President & CEO, JCIE/Japan

HIDEKO KATSUMATA, Executive Director & COO, JCIE/Japan (also serves a member of IPPUV)

RYO TAINAKA, Program Officer, JCIE/Japan

SHIGEKO KONDO, Program Officer, JCIE/Japan