Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began in Paris on Monday, a series of meetings he will continue in Rome, London, Ottawa and Washington to present to his allies the new Defense doctrine of Japan and prepare the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May.
by Philippe Pons (Tokyo, correspondent)
Like every year, at the end of December, an emblematic ideogram of the past year is calligraphed with great fanfare within the temple of Kiyomizu, in Kyoto, by the superior: for 2022, was retained that of Ikusa (old word meaning “conflict, war”). This choice reflects the latent concern that prevails in Japan following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the worsening of the confrontation between China and the United States. The Prime Minister’s diplomatic tour, Fumio Kishida, who started in Paris on Monday, January 9, before continuing in Rome, London, Ottawa and Washington, is part of this context of tensions that led the archipelago to adopt, the December 16, 2022, a new defense doctrine.
This “national security strategy” provides for a drastic strengthening of the defense capacities of Japan. Capped since 1976 to 1 % of the gross domestic product (GDP), symbolic threshold of a only defensive policy, military spending must increase to 2 % of GDP in 2027. Over the next five years, Tokyo will devote to this purpose of 43,000 billion yen (300 billion euros). The country, so far an average military power, intends to acquire counterattack capacities in order to be able to strike sites representing a potential threat and strengthen operational coordination with its American ally.
geostrategic turn
Japan had accustomed the world to a small step of its defense doctrine, over the reinterpretations of its constitutional pacifism. This time, he crossed a new threshold, emptying a little more of his meaning the provisions of article 9 of the Constitution, by which he renounces war. This geostrategic turn would have aroused an outcry in opinion a few years ago. But at the moment pivotal moment in the history of Japan of the post-war period, the debate concerns the means of finance this defensive effort and not on the other national interests of the archipelago (economic, diplomatic), notes the newspaper Nikkei Asia.
Two formulas have hit the bull’s eye in a society already worried about China’s force demonstrations around Japan. “What is happening in Ukraine can occur in Northeast Asia,” said Prime Minister Kishida, implying that this invasion could constitute a precedent encouraging China to attack Taiwan. Given the proximity of the Okinawa archipelago, where the bulk of the American contingent is parked, the country would be involved in the conflict. “If Japan is attacked, who will defend it?” Add the former Deputy Prime Minister, Taro Aso, a figure of the right which, for decades, has been campaigning for Japan to become a “normal country”, arranging of all the attributes of sovereignty, including a substantial military power.
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