Japan moves away from pacifism
Tokyo steps up foreign and defense policy changes amid Ukraine crisis, stoking concern in region
More Japanese foreign and defense policy changes are emerging during the Ukraine crisis as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has clearly chosen to align his country more closely with the United States, the Group of Seven and its European partners.
In its annual foreign policy report, 2022 Diplomatic Bluebook, released on April 22, Japan switched from its previous conciliatory approach toward its decades-long territorial dispute with Russia to a hard-line stance.
It said the four northern islands off Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido are “illegally occupied” by Russia. It was the first time that wording was used since 2003, said Kyodo News.
The bluebook also said the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia, are an “inherent” part of the territory of Japan, a description that had been absent since the 2011 report.
In line with other G7 nations, Japan has imposed tough sanctions on Russia, with the latest move on April 20 to strip Russia of “most favored nation” trade status.
The Japanese government modified its rules governing military exports in early March, giving Ukraine bulletproof vests, helmets, masks, protective clothing against chemical weapons and even drones.
The New York Times referred to the military aid as “a decisive moment” in Japan’s evolution away from the pacifist identity it has embraced since World War II.
Delivering military equipment in two different kinds of transport aircraft to Ukraine, this enabled Japan’s Air Self Defense Force to check its long-range delivery capability. The two planes flew more than 8,000 kilometers in what was a drill for both the pilots and aircraft, Han Dong, a Chinese military expert, told the Shanghai-based media outlet The Paper.
One of the aircraft was a C-2 airlifter developed and manufactured by Kawasaki Aerospace Co. The C-2 has a maximum payload of 37 tons and formally entered service with the JASDF in 2017. The JASDF has 15 C-2 aircraft, according to Han.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has finalized a proposal requesting the government possess a “counteroffensive capability” in response to armed attacks, which Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun said signals “a great shift” in Japan’s exclusively defense-oriented policy in the postwar period defined by the nation’s pacifist Constitution.
Prime Minister Kishida has maintained that his administration will consider securing an enemy base strike capability. He also said “Japan needs to implement a fundamental upgrade of its defense capabilities” and that it was important to “thoroughly enhance defense with a sense of speed”.
The Liberal Democratic Party intends to have its proposal reflected in the government’s National Security Strategy slated for revision at the end of the year, Mainichi Shimbun reported.
The ruling party also proposed that Japan increase its defense budget that currently stands at around 1 percent of GDP to at least 2 percent in around five years to be on par with the 2 percent defense spending goal of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Kyodo News said.
“If Japan wields its counteroffensive capabilities as deterrence, it could fuel a military expansion race in the region,” Mainichi Shimbun warned in its editorial on April 23.
An enemy base strike capability requires extensive defense equipment for surveillance and to neutralize the enemy’s air defense network and other capabilities, the editorial noted.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a news conference on March 17 that some political forces in Japan have been using the Ukraine issue as a pretext to deliberately play up external threats and seek stronger military forces and capability.
He called on Japan to deeply reflect on history, draw lessons from the past, respect the security concerns of its Asian neighbors, stay committed to peaceful development, and do more things that benefit regional peace and stability instead of moving in the opposite direction.