A lecture on the subject of France in the World and post 3/11 France-Japan Relations was given by Philippe Faure, the French Ambassador to Japan. This event took place in the Tama Campus on June 9, 2011 (Thursday). We have kept you waiting for a long time, but we can now inform you that we have now made the necessary arrangements to distribute the recording of the lecture. On the day, the venue became overcrowded, with approximately 500 people in attendance. After the completion of the lecture, there was an insightful talk by the Ambassador and a lively question and answer session took place with the students.

Furthermore, this lecture was held as part of International Week (Theme: France) which had the purpose of Promoting the internationalization of Chuo University and stimulating students' intellectual curiosity.

[Lecture Commentary] Professor Nobutaka Miura, Faculty of Letters

3/11 refers to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant crisis that was caused by the huge earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern Japan. In the media it was only the United States Operation Tomodachi (relief efforts by the U.S. armed forces to help Japan after the earthquake) which was reported, but the major nuclear power country France also rushed to the aid of victims of the disaster. President Sarkozy visited Japan in late March as the presidency holder of the G8 and G20. In particular, Areva, the largest nuclear power company, has undertaken the task to decontaminate radioactive contaminated water. Prior to cooperative assistance during the nuclear power plant crisis, the Ambassador spoke eloquently about the secret to the power of French diplomacy. France has four trump cards when it comes to diplomacy; 1) France is a standing member-nation of the UN Security Council, 2) France has its own nuclear deterrent, 3) France has achieved European integration from the Franco-German reconciliation, and 4) French is an international language. However, Japan, a major economic power and minor political power, is lacking all of these. In addition to this, the Ambassador brought up the fact that France is the world's fifth largest economic power due to high labor productivity and excellent cutting-edge technology, the country's military force that can be dispatched to conflict zones based on UN resolutions, and also the nation's powerful five-year term presidential system where the diplomacy is managed by the military. This was a fact that painfully struck home in Japan where the prime minister has been changing every year.

Nuclear power generation is a farsighted policy in France and even after the Fukushima incident, the Ambassador said there would be no reduction in the promotion of nuclear power. This is stance that is unique to France, a country that, of course, does not have earthquakes or tsunamis, which has developed the European Pressurized Reactor that can even withstand aerial terrorist attacks like 9/11, and which possesses an independent regulatory authority that looks into the safety of nuclear power. After the Fukushima incident, if Japan withdraws from the promotion of nuclear power, it will be a hard blow for France that is becoming increasingly isolated in Europe over this position. Nuclear power is the greatest area of France-Japan cooperation.

[Lecturer Profile] Philippe FAURE Ambassadeur de France au Japon
Philippe Faure, French Ambassador to Japan
Born in Toulouse on June 13, 1950. After acquiring a Philosophy BA and an English Master's Degree, he graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies. Graduated from the テ営ole Nationale D'administration (promotion Guernica). After serving successive jobs as Ambassador to Mexico and Morocco, working as a career diplomat, he was appointed the Foreign Ministry Secretary General in March 2006. In the same period he was concurrently a Company Director of Areva and テ瑛ectricitテゥ de France (EDF) and a Director of the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). He has been serving as the French Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan since February 2008. Mr. Philippe Faure has been awarded the Officier de la Lテゥgion d'honneur, Officier National Medal of Merit, Officier Services to Agriculture Medal, Order of Queen Isabel (Spain), Order of Merit Cross for Distinguished Services of the Federal Republic of Germany, Order of Aguila Azteca (Mexico) and the Order of Al Alaoui (Morocco).

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