How can the Japanese government and the Keidanren just sit back and let business continue?
On February 27, Japan joined the U.S.-backed SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Transfers and Payments) sanctions. On March 1, the Council of the European Union also voted to impose sanctions on some Russian banks. However, the devastating impact on the Russian economy is dubious.
In addition, the German government has made a major shift in its energy policy. It is extending the deadline for the operation of its coal-fired and nuclear power stations in order to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. We wonder about this shift too. Isn't the current government just happy that the problems of global warming and nuclear waste can be postponed?
3. Compared to the dubious economic sanctions policies of the Japanese, European and US governments, I would like to pay more attention to European and US business leaders.
4. Following in the footsteps of fellow British oil giant BP, British oil giant Shell announced on February 28 that it would end its tie-up with Russian gas giant Gazprom and withdraw from the Sakhalin-2 oil and natural gas development project in Far Eastern Siberia.
5. Shell also withdrew from other concessions such as the Salim oil field, as well as from its partnership in Nord Stream 2, an undersea pipeline that will send Russian natural gas to Germany. CEO Ben van Beurden stressed, "We cannot stand by and we will not do so. It's a great decision.
6. Nike has suspended online sales to Russia.
7. Apple has stopped selling all its products in Russia and restricted the use of Apple Pay.
8. Sweden's Volvo Car has stopped shipping cars to Russia.
9. Germany's Daimler Trucks has suspended its business activities in Russia immediately, including its cooperation with Russian competitor Kamaz.
10. German car giant Mercedes-Benz Group is considering selling its Kamaz stake.
11. And what about the companies belonging to the Keidanren, that nest of money-grubbers? All they have to do is wait and see to make sure they don't draw the short straw.
It is shameful and unacceptable as a matter of international humanitarian ethics to pretend that one does not know or understand that the money that flows into Russia through Russian business is returned to the Russian government and turned into missiles and shells that indiscriminately kill Ukrainian civilians.
By the way, Mr. Ysaku Misawa, who is now feeling good about having gone to space to play with the easy money that he has made from his sudden riches in Japan, how many Ukrainian women and children did you help to kill by returning the 10 billion yen you paid for the fare to the Russian government? How many Ukrainian women and children did you help to kill? You are a cheap man.
Prof.PhD.& Dr Physicist Kazuto Kamuro, California Institute of Technology, USA
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