By Clint Richards
Abe’s calls for dialogue belie the real direction of Japan’s foreign policy.
Japan’s 2014 Ministry of Defense white paper was released on Tuesday, and regional territorial disputes figured heavily in the 505-page report. While North Korea was mentioned, most of the report’s findings focused on China and its growing military presence in the East and South China Seas. The overt focus on China could have an interesting effect on Japanese foreign and military policy, as the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe adopted the report on the same day. Abe has recently been pushing through multiple channels to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, claiming that “his door is always open” to mend ties with the Chinese president. However, the Cabinet’s adoption of a normalized view on collective self-defense in late June makes this latest white paper more ominous than previous iterations.
The most incendiary portion of the new report states that China’s “dangerous acts” concerning its claims in the East China Sea could lead to “unintended consequences” for the region. In particular the report singled out the implementation of China’s new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) as a “profoundly dangerous act” that “raise[d] concerns over China’s future direction.” With regard to the South China Sea, Japan used language preferred by its chief ally the U.S. by stating that China’s actions were “incompatible with the existing international law” and that it was “attempting to alter the status quo by coercive measures.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat