By Xiang Haoyu
项昊宇
British Financial Times reported that the Japanese Defense Ministry has recently announced its official admission to the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), which proclaims to be the most authoritative cybersecurity agency in the whole world. In recent years, Japan has had frequent interactions with the UK in military security and maintained a close relationship with NATO as well. Against such a background, joining NATO’s cyber defense center is the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party’s latest move to seek to break away from military restrictions.
据英国《金融时报》报道，日本防卫省日前宣布正式加入北约网络防御中心。北约网络防御中心全称是“北约合作网络防御卓越中心”，自称是全球“最权威”的网络安全机构。在近年来日本与英国在军事安全方面的互动颇为热络、日本与北约也非常密切的背景下，日本自民党政权借此加快推动军事“松绑”的政治意图昭然若揭。
The Ukraine crisis has shown a major feature of modern warfare is operations in the cognitive domain, mainly cyber war and information war, which lends an unprecedented importance to reinforcing cybersecurity and cyber offensive/defensive capability. The CCDCOE has shot up as a rising star in such a context, whose acceptance of two heavyweight Asian countries – Japan and ROK – this year marks a breakthrough in NATO’s efforts at globalization. From the perspective of the US-led military bloc, incorporating Japan and ROK in the US-dominated multilateral cybersecurity cooperation framework will further intensify the West’s domination over international cyberspace while fostering pivots of cyber confrontation in Northeast Asia to better serve their strategic needs of containing China.
这一轮乌克兰危机反映出现代战争的一大特点是以网络战、信息战为主的认知域作战，维护网络安全、强化网络防御和网络攻击能力的重要性空前提升。在此背景下，作为北约下属组织的网络防御中心成为新晋“网红”。该组织今年相继吸收韩日两个“重量级”亚洲国家加入，成为北约“全球化”试水的重要突破。在以美国为首的北约看来，把日韩纳入美国主导的多边网络安全合作架构，既可以进一步强化美西方把控的国际网络空间主导权，也可以在东北亚地区打造网络对抗的支点，更好地遂行遏压围堵中国的战略需要。
Although joining the cyber defense center doesn’t mean Japan’s accession to NATO, the move nevertheless released messages that consisted with Tokyo’s persistent pursuit for relaxation of the military restrictions on it. At the end of this year, the Fumio Kishida administration will release the latest edition of three key defense policy documents – National Security Strategy, National Defense Program Guidelines, and Mid-Term Defense Program. As the LDP government has been constantly hyping external threats and stoking a public sense of crisis through media manipulation, it is generally believed that the upcoming documents will further exaggerate the severe external security environment and specifically demand a massive increase in defense expenditure and development of aggressive combat capabilities. That will further shallow out the Pacifist Constitution and the “defense only” policy, leading Japan one step closer to its goal of becoming a military power.
虽然日本加入北约网络防御中心不等同于加入北约，但日本通过此举，对外释放的信息与其迄今谋求军事“松绑”的政策动向一脉相承。今年底，岸田政府将出台新版《国家安全保障战略》《防卫计划大纲》《中期防卫力整备计划》三大国防政策文件。经过自民党政权不断炒作“外部威胁”、煽动民众危机意识等舆论操作，外界普遍认为，岸田政府在相关文件中将进一步渲染“外部安全环境严峻”，明确写入大幅提升防卫开支和发展进攻性作战能力等内容，从而进一步架空和平宪法和“专守防卫”政策，让日本继续朝着军事大国的目标迈进。
In its latest Defense White Paper released in July 2022, the Japanese government made enhancing combat capabilities in cyberspace and outer space a key direction of its defense policy adjustment, planning to increase human and fiscal input comprehensively and trying to secure a vantage point in the cutting-edge domain of international security. The Japan Self-defense Forces formed a 540-member cyber defense unit in March that is responsible for cyber defense and combat operations, and plans to swell the ranks to 5,000 people. JSDF has participated in several multinational cyberwar exercises this year, including CCDCOE’s Locked Shields in April. Japan’s Yomiuri Shinbun reported recently that the Japanese government will write establishing a proactive cyber defense system in the National Security Strategy to be issued at year end. Sources said policies will be adjusted to give JSDF more power to enable it to not only regularly monitor cyberspace, detect signs of incoming attacks, and lock the source of attack, but also to take preemptive countermeasures.
在今年7月发布的新版《防卫白皮书》中，日本政府将提升网络和太空领域作战能力作为防卫政策调整的重点方向，拟全面加大人力和财政投入，力图抢占国际安全“前沿”领域的优势地位。日本自卫队于今年3月成立540人规模的“网络防卫队”，专门承担网络防御和作战任务，并计划将相关队伍扩员至5000人规模。今年以来，自卫队多次参加多边网络战演习，4月份参与了北约网络防御中心举行的“锁盾”网络防御演习。日本《读卖新闻》日前报道称，日本政府将把建立“积极网络防御”体系写入年底出台的《国家安全保障战略》中。据悉，有关政策调整将赋予自卫队更大权限，使之不仅可对网络空间实施常态化监控、侦测攻击征兆和锁定攻击源头，还可采取先发制人的反制行动。
Cyberspace, a virtual existence, is stealthier as a domain of warfare than the land, sea and airspace where conventional combats take place. Japan’s attempt to break the Pacifist Constitution’s restriction on its development of aggressive military forces and to exercise aggressive combat subjects will also be more secretive when shielded by the pretext of strengthening cyber warfare capability and defense capacity. However, playing the old trick of hyping external threats in the field of cybersecurity will only stretch the geopolitical tension in Northeast Asia to cyberspace, aggravate the risk of militarizing cyberspace, and add new uncertainties to the region and the world at large.
网络空间因其非实体存在的特殊性，作战疆域有着不同于陆海空等常规兵种的隐蔽特征。日本借强化网络战能力，以防御之名演练攻击类作战科目，突破和平宪法对其发展进攻型军事力量的限制，也更具隐蔽性。但从手法上看，日本在网络安全领域沿袭渲染外部威胁的惯用套路，只会将东北亚的地缘紧张进一步拓展到网络空间，加剧网络空间军事化危险，从而给地区乃至全球增添新的不稳定因素。
NATO, a military security bloc with a deep-seated Cold War mentality, is an important tool for the US to maintain its global hegemony, and its CCDCOE just exposes America’s strategic intention of continuously pushing forward the frontline of the “New Cold War”. Whether it’s NATO’s infiltration into the Asia Pacific or the latter becoming a mini-version of NATO, the military bloc stretching its antenna to the region will take a serious toll on regional peace, stability and cooperation. In face of the mounting risk of military confrontation in cyberspace, China must take precautions and countries in the region must stay fully alert against the trend of cyber militarization.
北约是美国护持全球霸权的重要工具。作为冷战色彩浓厚的军事安全集团，北约下属的网络防御中心向亚太扩员，暴露出美国将“新冷战”阵线不断前推的战略意图。无论是“北约渗透亚太”还是“亚太北约化”，北约触角伸向亚太都会对地区和平、稳定和合作产生严重干扰和消极影响。对于可能愈演愈烈的网络军事对抗风险，中国需要未雨绸缪加强防范，地区国家也需对网络空间军事化动向保持足够警惕。
(The author is a special researcher at the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies, China Institute of International Studies)
（作者是中国国际问题研究院亚太研究所特聘研究员）
Editor's note: Originally published on 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.
