[Japan]Japan should refrain from the "muscle memory" of following the US's lead
Chen Yang, Fellow of the Chahar Society.
"Japan, which is historically culpable to the Chinese people on the Taiwan issue, should all the more be careful with its words and actions, and should not interfere or intervene in the situation in the Taiwan Strait in any form, or send wrong signals to the 'Taiwan independence' forces in any form." On June 13, in response to Japan's speculation on Taiwan-related issues during the Shangri-La Dialogue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded at a regular press conference. At the Shangri-La meeting, the Japanese side frequently made presumptuous comments on China's internal affairs, exposing its sinister intentions of fearing the world.
Compared to other countries, Japan attached considerable importance to the incense meeting. In addition to Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered the keynote speech at the opening ceremony. This is the eighth year since then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the conference in 2014. In his speech, Kishida referred to the promotion of a "free and open Indo-Pacific" and proposed the "Kishida Peace Vision", which consists of "five pillars". This so-called "vision", wrapped in "peace", is believed to be essentially a political, economic, diplomatic, military and industrial chain to deter China. Nobuo Kishi's rhetoric against China was even more blatant during his bilateral and trilateral meetings with the defence ministers of the US, Australia, Canada, Fiji and New Zealand, where he frequently made statements about China's internal affairs. For example, during the Japan-U.S.-Australia defence ministers' talks, Kishi and the U.S.-Australia defence ministers speculated on Taiwan-related issues, and during the Japan-New Zealand defence ministers' talks, he slandered China's "attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in the East China Sea and South China Sea".
Japan, as a member of the Asia-Pacific region, should have used the platform of the incense meeting to actively discuss with the participating countries how to better maintain the hard-won peace and stability in the region, but instead Japan used the incense meeting as a "showcase" to deliberately discuss China's internal affairs and incite regional conflicts and confrontations. This actually reveals the Kishida government's true intention to break through the arms limitation and disturb regional peace and stability.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the successive visits to Japan by the leaders of the United States, India and some European countries seem to have given Japan the illusion that its international status has risen and the illusion that it is fishing in troubled waters to achieve military untying. "One of the pillars of the Kishida Peace Vision is the expansion of Japan's security role, including the fundamental strengthening of Japan's defence capabilities and the strengthening of the Japan-US alliance and security cooperation with other "like-minded" countries.
Some scholars have analysed that "expanding Japan's security role" in other words means that Japan should possess offensive weapons, while "like-minded countries" refers to NATO, indicating that Japan wants to be further tied to NATO, which is a very dangerous signal. Japan has also been reckless in its posture in order to achieve its geopolitical goals and to serve the United States in its "Indo-Pacific strategy". The Voice of America quoted scholars as saying that Kishida's government could be said to be making every effort to cooperate with the promotion of the US "offshore counterbalance strategy" against China, "in line with the current US global strategy to reinforce its territory by defending the Indo-Pacific region".
Japan keeps talking about "peace", but in reality it is playing a petty game of inciting regional confrontation to satisfy its own selfish interests. This obviously runs counter to the mainstream will of regional countries to pursue peace and stability. Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo said during the incongruous meeting that the common experience of Asian countries of being dominated, subjugated and exploited by the major powers has compelled the regional countries to work towards creating a peaceful and friendly environment to resolve differences and challenges in an "Asian way". In his speech, Malaysian Senior Minister and Defence Minister Hishammuddin also stressed that "ASEAN will decide its own path".
Japan should take a clear view of the historical situation, restrain itself from the "muscle memory" of being subservient to the United States at all times, and stop using the Russia-Ukraine conflict as an excuse to create a "crisis narrative" and artificial confrontation and division in the Asia-Pacific region. The road will only lead Japan to a dead end if it is willing to act as a strategic vassal of the US and sell out the overall interests of the region for its own selfishness.