Japan Could Become An “Active Disruptor” of Sino-Japanese Relations
As the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) in 2023, Japan has shown straightforward ambitious.
On January 9, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida left for a visit to France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, with “strengthening security cooperation” and “a free and open Indo-Pacific” as the key issues of the visit.
On January 11, Fumio Kishida met with British Prime Minister Sunak and formally signed a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) that allows the two sides to send troops to each other.
On January 13, after the meeting between Fumio Kishida and US President Biden, Japan and the United States issued a joint statement, emphasizing once again “the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” Combined with the US-Japan “2+2” talks statement released in the same week, Japan made clear its position on the Taiwan issue twice in the same week, which undoubtedly sent a sharp signal to China.
At the same time, the United States also promised in the joint statement on January 13 that it will unswervingly use all forces, including nuclear capabilities, to protect Japan. In addition, the Fumio Kishida government passed the amendments to three security documents including the National Security Strategy last month, clearly stipulating that Japan will have the counterattack capability to destroy enemy missile launch sites for the purpose of self-defense, while planning to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP within five years. These initiatives are also strongly supported by the United States.
Based on Japan’s recent behavior, it is likely that the Fumio Kishida government will be more aggressive in Sino-Japanese geopolitical relations in the future, unlike its predecessor.
Japan’s recent series of positive actions have their own small goals, that is, to improve the country’s international status and realize Japan’s “national normalization” as soon as possible. In the context of containing China, the United States is bound to adopt a more tolerant attitude towards Japan to better restrain China, which also creates more room for Japan to further hollow out the principle of “Exclusively Defense-Oriented”. In fact, in the recent war games conducted by American think tanks on the Taiwan Strait issue, Japan has been regarded as a military force that will directly participate in the war in the Taiwan Strait crisis.
As Japan actively takes measures to strengthen its regional military power, Japan may become an “active disruptor” of Sino-Japanese relations, and the prospects for Sino-Japanese relations are not optimistic.
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