Japan: US outpost in undermining peace

Cai Liang    source：Global Times

                                                                           Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels on Thursday after the NATO summit. Japan and the European Union (EU) will pledge to cooperate in areas such as maritime, cyber and space.

Japan is getting closer and closer to the US and the West. News about NATO opening a liaison office in Japan has been ongoing. Japan's proximity to NATO and the EU and its attempt to lead way for "Asia-Pacific NATO" will only undermine regional security. Why is Japan, a self-proclaimed "pacifist" country, becoming a threat to regional security? 

After the end of the Cold War, various "new pacifist" political trends emerged in Japan. These trends advocated for Japan's transformation from a "passive pacifist" country to a "proactive pacifist" country that actively contributes to regional and global peace and stability through strong comprehensive national strength. This movement reached its peak during the tenure of former prime minister Shinzo Abe and has continued under the current administration of Fumio Kishida. It exhibits three characteristics: First, Japan vigorously promotes the "China threat theory," positioning China as Japan's "unprecedented and greatest strategic challenge;" second, it actively plays the role of an outpost to assist the US in containing China; and finally, under the banner of "proactive pacifism," it strives to enhance Japan's defense capabilities, and vigorously promote the amendment of its constitution.

In order to better cooperate with the US' arrangements, Japan has publicly proposed to double its defense spending within 5 years, reaching a level of 2 percent of GDP. Through the "three security documents" issued in December 2022, Japan seeks a major shift in the traditional alliance arrangement whereby the US is in charge of offensive strikes and Japan focuses on defensive operations. It is worth mentioning that Japan actively cooperates with the US in building the so-called "integrated deterrence," which involves rallying allies and partners to form a multi-level network of strong containment and deterrence around China.

As is well known, the US is staging a "five-four-three-two" formation in the Asia-Pacific to maintain its dominant hegemonic system. It includes strengthening the Five Eyes alliance, promoting the Quad, establishing AUKUS, and enhancing bilateral military alliances. The US has created closed and exclusive "clubs," with the Indo-Pacific Strategy becoming synonymous with bloc politics. Its true intention is to establish an Indo-Pacific version of NATO. Japan, in order to better play the role of the vanguard in assisting the US in containing China, has also constructed a security "circle of friends" composed of a concentric security circle and an inverted security pyramid. The concentric security circle takes alliance relations as the core, followed by relationships such as quasi-alliance, special strategic and global partnership, etc. The inverted security pyramid consists of different layers: The first layer is the Japanese-US relationship, the second layer includes Japan-Australia, Japan-UK, and Japan-India relations, the third layer encompasses ASEAN members (primarily Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries surrounding the South China Sea), and the fourth layer involves EU countries like France and Germany.

What is most worthy of vigilance is that after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Japan deliberately made a "distorted connection" between the situation in Ukraine and the Taiwan question and has openly pointed fingers at China. In the latest versions of the "Diplomatic Bluebook" and "Defense of Japan (Annual White Paper)," Japan significantly increases content related to Taiwan's security. It can be said that Japan's actions are a blatant attempt to intervene in the Taiwan question and grossly interfere in China's internal affairs.

In summary, Japan, which claims to be a "peaceful nation," repeatedly emphasizes the need to maintain peace and stability in the region, however, its actions are essentially aimed at jointly constructing a realist power-balancing order with the US through group politics and camp confrontation. This inevitably leads to a "security dilemma" where hostility and tensions escalate in the region. This particularly deepens the trust deficit between China and Japan, posing a risk of their bilateral relationship falling into a "trap of pan-securitization." Japan's actions are completely contrary to its self-proclaimed intentions and are actively undermining peace and stability in the region.