22 August 2014

Editorial: Okay, the U.S. Is Very, Very Likely to Defend Japan, Then

Image: Chuck Hagel via Flickr

By Jun Okumura

Don’t underestimate the importance of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands to Japan…or the importance of Japan to the US.

I stand corrected by Professor Paul Sracic’s scholarship and experience in U.S. law and politics with regard to U.S. President Barack Obama’s legal considerations behind his actions regarding the no-fly zone in Libya. (I did raise the possibility of a case in which such prior authorization would not be feasible, but that was never a focal point of Professor Sracic’s original argument nor the main thrust of my counterargument, so I will leave it at that.) I shall also accept his assessment that “[i]t seems foolhardy to ignore this increasingly significant ‘creeping isolationism’ in U.S. politics when trying to predict the actions of Congress, whether one is talking about the Middle East, or the East China Sea.” And I shall concede the “the insignificance of the islands in the eyes of most Americans.” However, the Senkaku Islands are much more than just “a set of uninhabited islands to the south” to Japan.
The Senkaku Islands have only minimal economic value to Japan with regard to the seabed resources in the surrounding exclusive economic zone, the current situation being as it is. But there is a practical reason for maintaining administrative control over the islands, for the islands do have some potential as a military outpost. No Japanese administration has suggested such use, and is highly unlikely one would do so regardless of any wishes that the Japanese hard-right may harbor. However, the Japanese government will want to keep the islands out of Chinese hands for security purposes in light of the latter’s actions to secure disputed territory in the South China Sea, if nothing else. The importance of the islands has been enhanced by the ongoing shift in Japan’s post-Cold War national security policy and deployment of its military assets: specifically, less emphasis on the U.S.S.R. (and later Russia) and more on North Korea and China and the safety of its sea lanes – a trend-line that was already in place when Shinzo Abe first assumed office as prime minister in 2006. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat