Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife Yuko Kishida depart from Tokyo Haneda Airport for the US On April 8, 2024. (Photo from VCG)
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida did not forget to hype up "national security threats" before he departed for the US on April 8. In an interview with CNN, he claimed that the escalating geopolitical tensions had pushed the world to a "historic turning point". Analysts believe that Japan's exaggeration of external threats is consistent with its process of promoting military expansion after the introduction of its three national security documents, providing a pretext for advancing its aggressive militaristic routes.
According to Kishida, the security environment around East Asian countries is "severe and complex", prompting the Japanese government to decide to "fundamentally strengthen national defense". Kishida stated that in the face of increasingly severe security challenges, the Japan-US alliance is becoming "increasingly important", and he hopes this viewpoint will gain support from both Democrats and Republicans in Washington.
As a country that has brought grave war disasters to neighboring countries, Japan's military movements have received huge attention. Defense spending not exceeding 1% of GDP was a "red line" that Japan has adhered to for many years since World War II. However, since the Kishida administration took power, Japan has been racing on the path of military expansion. In December 2022, Japan officially passed new versions of its three documents concerning national security strategy, which clearly stipulate that Japan can develop counterattack capabilities and that Japan will gradually increase its defense spending to 2% of GDP by the fiscal year 2027.
Xiang Haoyu, a specially appointed research fellow in the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies, China Institute of International Studies, stated that Japan's exaggeration of external threats is to create excuses and conditions for realizing the new path of military expansion. After the Japanese government passed the three security documents at the end of 2022, two changes occurred in its core policy. On the one hand, it aimed to develop offensive technologies, and on the other hand, it attempted to expand defense budgets and spending. All of these require a major turning point in Japan's national security strategy, so Japan considers it necessary to create excuses and find reasonable justifications.
In the Japan-US summit meeting to be held on April 10, both sides will use "the increasingly severe security environment confronting both countries" as a pretext to strengthen the Japan-US alliance and confirm the establishment of a consultation platform aimed at jointly developing defense equipment. Both sides will also discuss how the Joint Command Headquarters of Japan's Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces and the US Forces Japan Command cooperate with each other.
Xiang Haoyu said that in this US-Japan summit meeting, both sides may substantially update the 1960 Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the US and Japan, including restructuring the US Forces Japan Command and strengthening joint combat planning exercises between the two countries. This may be the largest readjustment in security relations between the two countries since the treaty was concluded.
According to an article on the website of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), there are many differences and difficulties in current bilateral relations between the US and Japan. Japan pays close attention to this year's US presidential election and is deeply concerned about US trade protectionism tendencies. Japan's Nippon Steel is pushing forward with plans to acquire US Steel, but last month US President Biden issued a statement claiming that US Steel should continue to operate as a US company. This indicates that although the US hopes to win over Japan, the closest ally in the Indo-Pacific region, domestic political factors in the US still have a great impact on the decision-making of the US government in this presidential election year.
Xiang Haoyu said that currently, the US is actively mobilizing its Asian allies, including Japan and the Philippines, to create small multilateral cooperation network, and jointly form strategic containment and suppression against China. In this process, Japan actually plays a role in connecting these allies. Therefore, the US is using Japan's subjective initiative to actively woo Japan or elevate Japan's position in the alliance to better serve the US.
Editor's note: Originally published on world.huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
