Arkansas Online

Priorities in Japan

A new look in a tough neighborhood

THERE WAS a time when an expanding Japanese military presence, anywhere, would have caused concern around the world, and in some precincts, even pique. That time was at least one generation ago. Maybe two or three or four.

Japan and Germany are still not permanent members of the UN Security Council, even though they have the No. 3 and No. 4 economies in the world. Economically, both are bigger than France and the UK—and far bigger than Russia.

But sometimes in this unfair world a generation pays for the sins of its fathers or grandfathers. The little matter of the Second World War keeps Japan and Germany from having permanent seats on the Security Council, and they are consigned with the rest of the world to a rotation.

Still, Germany is a member in good standing of NATO, a military alliance of the top order. When Germany builds up its military—to the point that its tanks are the envy of the world, and Ukraine asks for them specifically—nobody outside Russia blinks an eye. It’s Germany. It’s a top world power.

But Japan is different, and has been since a general named MacArthur put together its constitution, which limits any kind of military that would give it the status of a Great Power. Which brings us to this month. Prime minister of Japan Fumio Kishida has put the country on a different strategic path. The country aims to take on a more activist role in its part of the world, and not only in its part of the world. The government has approved a defense plan that doubles annual spending. And spends 2 percent of GDP, which is what NATO countries have agreed to spend on their defenses, but don’t always do so.

What is happening in Japan is called “controversial” by world media types. Its constitution allows for a “defense” force, but that boundary is being pushed. Tokyo says the Japan Self-Defense Force should live up to its name.

The Americans should encourage our strong ally—maybe the closest ally outside the UK—to take up more of the military burden in the Pacific.

It’s a tough neighborhood. Mainland China pushes everybody around. The crazy neighbor in Pyongyang keeps frying the innards of mountains. Remember that Vlad the Impaler has a country that stretches out to the Pacific, too. The Americans have a number of soldiers in South Korea to ensure that the United States enters a war on the peninsula if Lil’ Kim sends troops below the 38th Parallel. They can’t be of any help to Japan.

Japan has the resources. It should stand up to the bullies of the region, along with the Americans, and South Koreans, and Taiwanese, and Australians, and all the other free nations in the Pacific. For that matter, Japan could also be an example for certain countries in NATO to follow.

It’s been a long time since the 1940s—at least a generation ago. Maybe two or three or four.

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2023-01-30T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-30T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.arkansasonline.com/article/281947431989597

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