By Lian Degui
A report, titled “The U.S.-Japan Alliance in 2020: An Equal Alliance with a Global Agenda” and co-authored by Richard L. Armitage, former US Deputy Secretary of State, and Joseph S. Nye, Professor of Harvard University, made quite a splash in Japanese academia recently. Some Japanese scholars felt excited about their country being called “an equal ally” of the US, the first time since 2000, and noted that the report mentioned Japan’s increasingly important role in countering China, which is the key reason why Tokyo becomes an equal partner in the US-Japan alliance.
According to some Japanese scholars, Japan has modified its interpretation of the Constitution and can exercise the collective right of self-defense, which clears the way for Japan-US defense cooperation. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is no longer an obstacle to the military cooperation between the two countries, and US-Japan alliance is switching to a relation of mutual dependence – this is the defining feature of the latest report.
The subject of equality concerning the Japan-US alliance is nothing new. On August 30, 1955, the then Japanese foreign minister Shigemitsu Mamoru requested revising the Japan-US Security Treaty to be reciprocal on the grounds that Japan could protect itself with its self-defense forces. Still, his request was denied by the then US Secretary of State Dulles.
Is the Japan-US alliance coming to the age of equality? Some Japanese scholar held that the value of the alliance so far lies in that Japan needs America’s protection while the US needs military bases in Japan rather than Japan’s military strength. However, now the US needs Japan as an equal partner to cope with the challenges from China and the DPRK. Going forward, the precondition for keeping the equal alliance between Tokyo and Washington is for Japan to continue to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region, develop the quadrilateral military cooperation with the US, India, and Australia, and safeguard free trade, control COVID-19 and respond to climate change.
This view echoes with the strategic thinking of the pro-establishment figures in the US. Joseph Nye said long ago that it would be unimaginable for the US if it were pushed aside and Japan and China played the leading role in East Asia. This is the fundamental reason why Armitage’s report, despite its new ideas and contents every year, has never deviated from the obsessions of touting the “China threat” theory and reinforcing the Japan-US alliance. As a seasoned strategist, Joseph Nye is seeking the basis for the existence of a Japan-US alliance, which is a cleverer move than what the Trump administration has done in containing China’s rise. He believed that if Japan, an American ally, is reconciled and cooperates with China, the US-centered Asian-Pacific order and even the world order will be severely challenged. Therefore, the best strategy for the US is to create trouble between China and Japan to keep them from approaching each other, even though the Cold War has long ended.
Under the influence of the US, Japan after WWII has cultivated many American-minded scholars. They regard the US and the Japan-US alliance as the yardstick, and their strategic thinking is bogged in the Cold War period. In the meantime, they are full of arrogance and prejudice against China’s system and development and never bother to think independently outside the American standard. Yukio Hatoyama, former Japanese prime minister, exclaimed that Japan should be courageous enough to become an independent state, but he then continued with great dismay that “Ichiro Ozawa and I have worked on everything, from politics and finance, territory, consumption tax, to TPP, nuclear station, Osprey fighters and military bases. On all these matters, there is the shadow of the US. I once doubted whether Japan is an independent state. Now that I’ve been through the cabinet as prime minister, I can say with certainty that Japan is not a fully independent state.”
Equality must be based on independence. Japan should realize its dream for equality and independence by playing a constructive role in the Indo-Pacific region for win-win cooperation, rather than forming cliques and making trouble.
(The author is director and professor at the Center of Japanese Studies, Shanghai International Studies University.)
This article is originally published on Huanqiu.com and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
