cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/56243455
The Japanese government has published its first defense white paper since the launch of the Sanae Takaichi cabinet, laying bare strong a sense of crisis and vigilance toward the deepening alignment among North Korea, China, and Russia.
Diagnosing that East Asia’s security environment is facing its greatest test since the end of World War II, Japan emphasized strengthening deterrence through solidarity with allied nations.
…
In its white paper, Japan spotlighted the growing military cooperation among North Korea, China, and Russia, assessing that “the international society has entered a new era of crisis as it faces the greatest trials since the postwar period.”
In particular, it expressed strong concern over deteriorating conditions, stating that “a serious situation akin to the invasion of Ukraine could occur in East Asia.”
…
The front section of the white paper featured photos of the summit meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as a large-scale military parade featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping, warning against the expansion of military influence by nations that do not share democratic values and systems.
Regarding China’s military trends, the white paper defined them as the “greatest strategic challenge ever seen,” following last year’s assessment, and cited military pressure on Taiwan and intensified maritime activities around the Senkaku Islands as threats.
As for North Korea, it described the country as posing a “more grave and imminent threat to Japan’s security than ever before,” raising risks that North Korea’s military capabilities could be reinforced in the mid-to-long term through military cooperation with Russia, such as troop deployments to Ukraine.
…
Can you stop hyperfocusing on that? I am not saying Japan shouldn’t take a sober look at defense and focus on rationally deterring Chinese military power with intelligent buildup of military capability, I am saying handing power to conservative ideologies will make Japan radically less safe and more vulnerable to attack no matter how much Japan appears to be strengthing itself in the process, it will end up hastening whatever nightmare the conservatives in charge point to as a rationalization for closing down the vibrancy of society.
Not only are conservatives obsessed with war for the aesthetics of it, for the way it makes them feel, and thus they are uninterested in learning the professional parts of it (a distastrous choice in modern war), conservatives are also as a rule incompetent as hell.
I am not ‘hyperfocusing.’ The topic here is the threat that posed by China, Russia, NK. They are a threat not just to Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific region, but to the entire world. We see that now as China, through its decisive support for Russia, is a threat to Ukraine and, therefore, Europe. And the same could happen in Asia, which is what this article is about.I am fully on topic.
Don’t know why you bring up ‘conservatives’ Japan, the threat comes from somewhere else.
No, it doesn’t, they are one in the same that is precisely my point.
Japan does support Ukraine, not Russia like China does. Japan doesn’t bully its neighbours with war games, China does. Just to name two examples.
The threat that a situation like the Ukraine invasion happens doesn’t come from Japan. It comes from China.
Do you agree with that?