From July 5 to 10, 2021, Japan, the United States, Australia and the Republic of Korea held a multilateral military exercise in the waters and airspace near Sydney, Australia. (Japanese Defense Ministry official website screenshot/photo)
As the 2021 Tokyo Olympics heats up, another “dark battle” is quietly underway on a treasure island in southeast China.
Over the past month, a number of senior US officials have said that their Taiwan policy will remain unchanged. According to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 26, when State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Cheryl Sherman, the US side said it adheres to the One-China policy and does not support Taiwan’s “independence”.
The frequent statements of the US, however, are in stark contrast to the recent aggressive transgression by its ally Japan to “protect Taiwan”.
At the end of June, Japanese Vice Defense Minister Nakayama Yasuhide publicly said, “Taiwan is our family and brother,” and “Japan needs to defend Taiwan.” In early July, Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso made similar remarks.
On July 13, Japan’s defense ministry released its annual white paper, mentioning for the first time that “the situation in Taiwan is important to Japan’s security and international stability” and saying that “we must closely follow the situation with an unprecedented sense of crisis.”
Zhou Yongsheng, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, told that Japan is changing its Taiwan policy and standing on the opposite side of China against the changing sino-US relations.
“At the same time, Japan is trying to lead the United States to intensify the confrontation and contradiction between the United States and China over the Taiwan issue. In this sense, Japan is one step ahead of the U.S. Zhou yongsheng said.
A “tense sense of war” was in the air
Japanese Internet user “Ren Isumian” was slightly surprised to see the cover of the 2021 white paper released by Japan’s Defense Ministry. He wrote on the social media platform, “It seems to be very aggressive and frightening.”
In the ink-and-wash color, an ancient Japanese samurai comes at a gallop on a high-headed steed. The picture makes public freehand brushwork, has the air of solemnity. A Spokesman for Japan’s Defense Ministry said, “It shows the strong resolve of the Self-defense Forces to defend Japan.”
The Japanese Defense Ministry has been producing and publishing defense white papers on a regular basis for half a century since the 1970s. It is understood that the purpose of the white paper is to show the current situation, problems and direction of improvement of Japan’s defense. The content is intended to be simple and easy to read, so as to enhance the public’s understanding of Japan’s Defense Ministry and self-defense Force.
The cover of the white paper has long attracted much attention in Japan. In the past few years, covers have often featured elements of Mount Fuji, cherry blossoms, the earth, and self-defense Forces soldiers, with the four-character title “Defense White Book” in a well-written format. Some Japanese people joked that it was as rustic as a textbook.
This year’s white paper is quite different.
It is understood that the cover of the designer Xiyuan yugui is an ink painter, has participated in the “Pokemon GO” and other popular Games in Japan painting production, by many Japanese young people welcome.
After the white paper was released, some thought the cover was “cool” while others thought it was “inappropriate”. “Is the national armed forces so frivolous?” a Japanese netizen MAE said on social media. It’s scary.”
In addition to the different style of the cover, the white paper in the text, also pervade this “tense war”. In a published message, Japan’s defence minister, Nobuo Kishi, played up the danger of being surrounded by “bad neighbours”. Digital and space security and climate change also feature heavily.
China is certainly the focus of the white paper. In the section of the Japanese version of the white paper titled “The Security Environment around Japan,” Japan lists the defense policies of its neighbors. Of these, “China” ranked second, after the United States, with about 27 pages. The U.S. -china relationship ranked third and was separate, including Taiwan’s “defense policy.”
In the Taiwan-related section, the white paper lists the activities of China and the United States regarding the Taiwan issue, such as aircraft patrols and the passage of warships, and says, “To stabilize the situation around Taiwan concerns Japan’s security and the stability of the international community,” adding, “We must closely follow the situation with an unprecedented sense of crisis.”
Amid what it called “tensions,” the white paper argued that Japan should further strengthen its alliances.
On the Japan-U.S. alliance, the white paper also reviewed u.s.-Japan cooperation such as “2+2” talks, defense ministers’ meetings and joint exercises, saying the alliance is increasingly important to regional peace and security. As Kishi Nobuo said in his opening remarks, “The Japan-US alliance is the cornerstone of regional peace, security and prosperity,” and “we should further strengthen its ability to respond and deter.”
Japan’s Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo. (People’s Vision/Photo)
Japan’s “Taiwan protection” theory frequently
Recently, a number of senior Japanese officials have crossed the boundary on the Taiwan issue and frequently made remarks that “protect Taiwan”.
On June 28, 2021, in a remote discussion at the Hudson Institute, a US think tank, Japanese Vice Minister of Defense Nakayama Yasuhide openly questioned the adherence of the US and other countries to the “one China” policy since the 1970s, and said that “Japan must protect Taiwan”.
A few days later, Taro Aso, Japan’s deputy prime minister, made similar comments in a public speech.
“China and Taiwan belong to the same country. And what is The purpose of Japan’s claim to protect a part of a country? Such a reference is undoubtedly interference in China’s internal affairs.” “Recently, Japan’s deputy defence minister and deputy prime minister both expressed the same view, which may be the real thinking of the Japanese high level and within the Japanese government,” Mr Zhou said.
“Historically, Japan has a history of colonizing and occupying Taiwan. Some politicians in Taiwan also show obvious pro-Japan tendencies. Japan’s so-called friend-Taiwan actions are also a sweetener to induce these pro-Japanese elements to turn against the mainland and China.” Tang Yonghong, deputy director of the Center for Taiwan Studies at Xiamen University, thinks Japan has more political intentions toward Taiwan.
Some pro-independence forces in Taiwan have been “greatly encouraged” by the cross-border remarks by a senior Japanese official. On June 30, the Taiwan Federation of Japan, a Taiwanese organization in Japan, issued a public thank-you letter.
Taiwan is part of China’s territory and the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair. The blatant trampling of the “one China” principle by Japanese government officials and Taiwan independence forces on the island of Taiwan has aroused China’s strong opposition.
In Japan’s defense white paper released the same day, the Chinese embassy said, “the paper continue error position, more negative tone, unreasonable accused China of national defense and army building, on the Taiwan issue gross interference in China’s internal affairs, the cliche of the east China sea, the south China sea issue, deliberately to discredit the legitimate operation of the Chinese national sovereignty interests, rendering the so-called” China threat “. China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this, and has lodged solemn representations with The Japanese side.”
The next day, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, also said in response that a series of Taiwan-related mistakes in Japan’s defense white paper were “irresponsible mistakes”. At the same time, she also warned Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party authorities and “Taiwan independence” separatists, “the clamor and contact with external forces, ‘to refuse reunification’ by force, ‘to seek’ independence ‘by force is a dead end.”
Japan ‘goes one step further’ than US
Japan’s radical turn towards Beijing cannot be done without the backdrop of tensions between The US and China. “In recent years, political, economic and military competition between the two countries has become more pronounced,” the white paper said, adding that “US-China relations will have a significant impact on Japan’s security.”
After former US President Donald Trump took office, he launched an “America First” foreign policy and used various means to contain and suppress China, which led to drastic changes in China-Us relations. Since Biden took office, the relationship between the two countries has faced tremendous challenges.
On July 26, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Kathleen Sherman that “the new US administration, on the whole, has continued the previous administration’s extreme and wrong China policy, constantly challenging China’s bottom line and stepping up efforts to contain and suppress China.”
“There is a deep motivation behind Japan’s white paper.” According to Professor Tang Yonghong, both the United States and Japan believe that China’s rise is not good for them and want to contain the rise of mainland China. Even though China and Japan maintained a large economic and trade cooperation, Japan resolutely chose to stand with the United States and became a pawn of the United States’ China policy after seeing the fundamental adjustment of the United States’ China policy from contact and exchange to containment and suppression.
“Japan has always been a ‘normal country’. In the process of seeking the status of a ‘normal country’, Japan sees both the US’s desire to use it to play the Taiwan card and the DPP’s demand for Taiwan independence. Therefore, Japan’s defense Ministry recently issued a white paper on the Taiwan issue, one is to show loyalty to the United States, the other is to send a signal to Taiwan.”
But as Japan’s Taiwan policy lurched to the right, its ally, the United States, showed subtle differences.
Just after Aso said “defend Taiwan”, the Pentagon immediately denied. Its spokesman John Kirby said the United States continues to follow the One-China policy and has no intention of getting involved in the Military issue of Taiwan. However, the US was “committed to assisting Taiwan in its defence”.
On July 6, the White House COVID-19 response Task Force issued a tweet, listing Taiwan as one of the “beneficiary countries” for vaccine donations, and placing the “REPUBLIC of China flag” alongside the flags of other countries. The tweet was later retweeted by Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen. “This was an honest mistake by the team and should not be seen as a change in official U.S. policy,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on July 8, local time, as the DPP thanked the United States.
“The current Policy of Japan and the US towards Taiwan is not the same.” Zhou yongsheng believes that Japan believes that there is no room for detente between China and the United States, and that the United States will focus on comprehensively suppressing China rather than cooperating with It. Japan thus shifted its Taiwan policy to the opposite side of China. “Japan’s policy on Taiwan is more extreme and radical than the US. It is even more provocative to the one-china principle.”
In addition to wooing the United States, Japan has its own agenda.
Since Abe came to power in 2012, Japan’s conservative right, represented by Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has embarked on a marathon pursuit of Japan’s “normal national status”. An important step in the pursuit of “normal nationhood” would be to remove the restriction on the exercise of collective self-defence under Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution.
However, due to the opposition of progressive forces from all sectors of Japan, it is still difficult to achieve the constitutional amendment to completely lift the ban on the right to collective self-defense.
Suga took over in September 2020 after Abe resigned amid illness. The day before the white paper was released, the approval rating for Suga’s cabinet fell to 33 percent, the lowest since September, according to NHK poll data.
But in the new domestic and international situation, Japan sees an opportunity to break the game.
In his opening remarks to the white paper, Mr. Kishi said, “In order to deal with these challenges in a security environment, it is necessary not only to strengthen Japan’s own defense capabilities and expand the role we can play, but also to work closely with countries that share the same basic values.”
Japan’s defence spending has been quietly increasing in recent years. In fiscal year 2021, Japan’s defense spending increased by 54.7 billion yen from the previous fiscal year to reach 5.1235 trillion yen, an increase of 1.1 percent. Defense spending has increased for nine consecutive years. Japanese Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo also publicly said, “Unlike in the past, we must improve Japan’s defense capabilities at a new speed.”
RobertWard, a Japan expert at the international institute for strategic studies, argues that Japan knows it cannot “contain China”, so it is trying to build a network of “like-minded” countries to show a presence and a rules-based order.
Lai Yue-chien, an adjunct associate professor at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, said in a recent interview that Unlike the United States, Japan has always had territorial ambitions for Taiwan. There are also pro-Japanese elements in Taiwan who are even grateful to Japan for colonizing the island.
“So the Japanese government has every incentive to instil Taiwan independence elements to fight against the mainland, or even to secede from the mainland. And set up a pro-Japanese puppet regime. Also, if the status quo changes and China and the United States are weakened due to conflict, Japan can protect itself.” “Mr. Lai said.