At some point, Japan is going to have to choose between playing second fiddle to China in Asia and being forced to fight a proxy war on behalf of Clown World.
Japan is increasingly trying to justify its ongoing militarization under the pretext of the so-called external threats. Looking around the region, it is Japan that is pushing the regional situation closer to the edge of danger, following the US strategy closely. Tokyo’s move deserves much vigilance. If it continues to act as a pawn of the US in the Asia-Pacific region to stir up trouble here, Japan must be wary of becoming a victim itself of the US or even the Ukraine of East Asia.
Concluding his recent G7 trip in Washington, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Saturday that he shared with the leaders of the bloc his “strong sense of crisis regarding the security environment in East Asia.” “Ukraine may be the East Asia of tomorrow,” the Japanese leader noted, adding that the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific are “inseparable.”
This is not the first time Kishida has made such a “warning.” In fact, since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, “East Asia is the Ukraine of tomorrow” has become one of his favorite phrases. For instance, he repeated the exact same view in his keynote speech at the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in June and later that month at the NATO summit.
The message Kishida wants to convey is clear: It calls for more attention to the region and Japan’s so-called security concerns from the US and its NATO allies, which have been focusing on countering Russia in Europe since the war broke out. In particular, Kishida’s words are aimed at China. He is trying to convince other Western countries that China is the next “biggest challenge” that must be jointly dealt with by the West…
“If Japan truly hopes to see a peaceful and stable East Asia, it should seriously reflect upon its history of militarist aggression, draw lessons from it, instead of going about stirring up trouble and fanning the flame,” then Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in July.
Japan should also reflect on how tightly it wants to be tied to the US strategy. As for now, it’s clear that no matter who is in power in Japan, the country’s foreign policy follows that of the US. But does that really benefit Tokyo? If it continues to act as a pawn of the US in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan must be wary of becoming a victim of the US or even the Ukraine of East Asia.
Japan risks turning itself into ‘Ukraine of Asia’ if it follows US’ strategic line, Global Times, 15 January 2023
I anticipate Japan eventually breaking with the USA rather than going to war with China. The failures of the US military, from Korea to Afghanistan, have not escaped the notice of the Japanese elite, and being an occupied country like Germany, the Japanese have neither a great affection for the USA or any love for Clown World. They will go along with the US program as long as they must, which is to say, until China makes them a carrot-and-stick offer that makes breaking with the USA, with all the chaos and unpleasantries that will follow, the lesser of two evils.
What we’re seeing right now is the diplomatic stick. But I have no doubt whatsoever that China is also offering a politico-economic carrot to Japan behind closed doors, since helping Japan break free of Clown World is almost as important to China as evicting Clown World from Ukraine is to Russia.