In an annual Defense Ministry paper adopted recently by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s Cabinet, Japan’s government expressed alarm about an Asian Super powers growing military assertiveness in the region. The paper, detailing the most pressing military threats to the country, singled out to the tussle over Taiwan in more direct terms than ever before.
‘’Stabilizing the Taiwan situation is important for Japan’s national security and stability of the international community,’’ the Japanese government said. ‘’We need to pay close attention with a sense of crisis more than ever before.’’
According to the Chinese government, the relationship between China and Japan has been strained at times by Japan’s refusal to acknowledge its wartime past to the satisfaction of China. However, according to the Japanese government, the expansion of China’s assertive actions have been damaging the bilateral relation.
Comments made by prominent Japanese officials and some Japanese history textbooks regarding the 1937 Nanking Massacre in China by the Japanese army have been a focus of particular controversy.
Since 1972, Japan has made apologies and issued expressions of regret for its World War II conduct, including statements from past prime ministers and the emperor. China, however, has never fully accepted this apology.
But concrete territorial and economic issues also aggravate the relationship, including Japan’s close alliance with the United States, trade frictions, and ongoing disputes over ownership of various islands in the East China Sea.
Postwar Scenario
After the defeat of Japan in World War II, the United States led the Allies in the occupation and rehabilitation of the Japanese state.
Between 1945 and 1952, the U.S. occupying forces, led by General Douglas A. MacArthur, enacted widespread military, political, economic, and social reforms.
The reforms introduced the most fundamental changes for the Japanese Government and society. The final agreement objected to the promise to support the Republic of China and not do business with the People’s Republic of China that was forced on Japan by U.S. politicians.
Since the end of World War II, Sino-Japanese relations are still mired in tension, which risks the break-out of a conflict in Asia.
As these two nations are close business partners, there is an undercurrent of tension, which the leaders from both sides are trying to quell.
China’s Paramount leader Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo have met several times face to face to try to build a cordial relationship between the two countries.
The main argument among observers and commentators is whether the relationship between China and Japan would remain stable due to their strong bilateral trades or the relationship would collapse due to the historical rivalry and enmity.
Taiwan factor
On February 19, 2005, Japan and the United States issued a joint agreement—the first of its kind—which said the status of Taiwan was a matter of mutual concern. Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade territory and objects to outside interference in what it views as a domestic matter. Growing military tensions around Taiwan as well as economic and technological rivalry between China and the United States threaten peace and stability in East Asia as the regional power balance shifts in Beijing’s favor, Japan said in its annual defense white paper.
“It is necessary that we pay close attention to the situation with a sense of crisis more than ever,” the paper said in a new section on Taiwan. “In particular, competition in technological fields is likely to become even more intense,” it said about the US-China tussle.
The defense review, which was approved by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government on Tuesday, points to China as Japan’s main national security concern.
Beijing’s recent uptick in military activity around Taiwan has made Tokyo worried since the island lies close to the Okinawa chain at the western end of the Japanese archipelago.
Chinese President Xi Jinping this month pledged to complete the “reunification” with Taiwan and in June criticized the US as a “risk creator” after it sent a warship through the Taiwan Straits separating the island from the mainland. Japan’s deputy prime minister and finance minister, Taro Aso, this month in a speech reported by Japanese media said Japan should join forces with the US to defend Taiwan from any invasion.
Although Japan has in recent months hinted it would aid in any Taiwanese defense against China, it would only help defend the island from Chinese attack if called on by the U.S. or if the conflict affected outlying islands under Japanese control, analysts say. Tokyo would join a U.S.-led defense of Taiwan because of its historical alliance with Washington, including the 70-year-old Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, experts say, or if China struck in a way that threatened Japan’s islets, such as Yonaguni, that are near Taiwan’s east coast. An annual Japanese defense white paper in mid-July calls Taiwan important to domestic and international security for the first time, and it adds that “it is necessary that [Japan] pay close attention to the situation with a sense of crisis more than ever before.” Japan’s increasing concern with China’s intimidation of its neighbors triggered a shift toward greater willingness to publicly align its national interests with the security of Taiwan.
Last December, State Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama defined Taiwan’s safety as a “red line” and urged President-elect Joe Biden to “be strong” in supporting Taiwan against Chinese aggression.
In June, State Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama called on democracies to “wake up (and) protect Taiwan as a democratic country.”
Nakayama warned that a crisis there would impact Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, which hosts the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan.
Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso more forthrightly declared Japan would participate in the defense of Taiwan.
Given escalating intimidation of Taiwan, the Taiwan Strait will remain tempestuous and continue to provide Tokyo with tough decisions.
There are several interests which are motivating the current Japanese government to get involved in the South China Sea: protecting its commercial and military shipping interests through its main sea lanes, solidifying the backbone of its Asian political and economic partners in the face of a rising China, keeping its only security ally – the US – involved in Asian regional security and sending a general signal to China about the need for the peaceful resolution of international disputes and for the upholding of international law.
Under Prime Minister Abe, the Japanese government has in recent years equipped itself with various security-relevant law and guidelines which are supposed to make his country a policy of “Proactive Contributor to Peace”.
Japan is likely to continue its incremental expansion of security-related involvement in the South China Sea (SCS) against the background of China`s tactics and US demands for burden-sharing. There is China`s strong opposition to any country outside the SCS to oppose its advances in the region.
China is using pressure in the notably disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands to keep Japan out of the SCS. The future obstruction of Japanese involvement in oil and gas ventures within China`s claimed Nine-dash line must also be considered.
The effectiveness of Japan`s SCS policies in achieving Japan`s political, strategic and economic interests may be enhanced by a more balanced mix of political, economic and security policies, but this would also demand greater Chinese restraint. (Japan News)
0 comments: