Japan on its Militarist Way: News Analysis

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, June 18, 2003

Japan on its Militarist Way: News Analysis

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The Japanese Government has taken a number of steps towards its long-pursued dream of becoming a military power, which have both internal and external causes, according to an article in Fujian Daily based in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province.

On June 6, Japan's House of Councillors passed three war contingency bills: the Bill to Respond to Armed Attacks; the Bill for Revision of Self-Defence Forces (SDFs); and the Bill for Revision of the Law Governing the Security Council of Japan.

Earlier on May 20, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi openly declared to the country's Congress that the SDF was essentially an army. Six days later, Japan decided to launch two spy satellites on September 10. Together with two previously launched reconnaissance satellites, the set will constitute a complete intelligence treatment system.

On May 31, Japan's media announced that the country would seek the deployment of a new version of the US-manufactured missile defence system and the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC) missile system. The cost of the two systems will be at least US$4.23 billion.

On June 5, Japan's air SDFs and the US army held a joint military exercise in Alaska, marking the first military drill that Japan's SDFs have held in the US homeland.

Among all these measures, the adoption of the three war contingency bills by the Japanese Government is the most eye-catching, said the article.

The three bills are aimed at extending the scope of Japan's SDFs to every place it chooses, and constitutes a serious violation of its Pacifist Constitution.

Just as Japan's media said following the event, the passage of the bills will serve as the country's first step towards becoming a military power.

Koizumi holds a similar opinion. He called the bills' passage a significant event in the history of Japanese politics.

In fact, Japanese militarists and right-wing factions have never given up attempts to maintain and expand military development in the decades following World War II. These factions have always tried to strengthen the ability of the SDF technically and legally, from upgrading its equipment and expanding its scope of activities, to pushing for its participation in United Nations peacekeeping actions.

The article further explains that over the last two years, by taking advantage of the global war on terror, the Iraq War, and the nuclear crisis in the Korean Peninsula, Japan has drafted a series of domestic policies that circumvent its Pacifist Constitution.

These moves taken by the Japanese Government have caused considerable concern and vigilance in the international community, especially among Asian countries.

The continuous development of Japanese rightist forces should be attributed to a large extent to the US policy on Japan following World War II, the article noted.

US General Douglas MacArthur, who was commanding the allied forces in the Southwest Pacific during World War II, remitted and released a number of Japanese class-A war criminals after the war had ended. Among the released was Kiski Nobusuke, whose liberation violated a verdict by the Far East International Military Court.

Some of the released criminals re-entered Japanese politics upon their return.

In the midst of its military occupation of Japan, the United States adopted a double-sided policy concerning Japan at the outset of the Cold War.

On the one hand, the United States tried to restrict Japanese development. On the other hand, it attempted to protect Japan's militarist forces in the hopes the country would become one of its subordinates in the future.

With the strain of East-West relations during the Cold War, the United States gradually changed its non-military and democratized policies in Japan. In an attempt to convert Japan into its anti-communist outpost in the East, Washington began to adopt the policy of propping up the development of the country's rightist factions.

It was obvious that the policies adopted by the United States during the Cold War provided favourable conditions for the existence and growth of Japan's rightist forces, said the article.

Statistics show the number of Japanese rightist groups has grown from 400 in the 1960s to more than 900 now.

All these groups have several attitudes in common: namely, trumpeting the past glory of the "great Japanese Empire;" denying the aggressive war Japan waged against China; and opposing the country's penitence towards other countries for its atrocious crimes during World War II, said the article.

Since US President George W. Bush took office, the US administration has done its utmost to strengthen the US-Japan alliance. Bush's policy, coinciding with that of Koizumi, has provided a rare opportunity for Japan's military development, revision of its pacifist Constitution, and its advancement towards becoming a military power.

The development of the Japanese rightist forces has also been decided to a large extent by the country's natural and social conditions, said the article.

Japan is an island nation with insufficient resources and a limited market. That has produced a kind of expansionist tendency in some Japanese nationalists from an early time.

As early as Japan's Tokugawa period, the country has considered theories stressing overseas expansion.

After its defeat in World War II, Japan has not adequately erased its militarist mentality. That has been reflected in a lack of the country's careful self-examination and recognition of its past aggressive history.

This kind of political atmosphere in Japan has led to a series of military programmes by the country's prime ministers, from Yasuhiro Nakasone in the 1980s to Koizumi, said the article.

Since its defence spending crossed the threshold of 1 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) during the period of the Nakasone administration in the 1980s, Japan has maintained an annual growth rate of 8 per cent for its defence expenditures.

Since 1983, Japan has become the world's second largest defence spending power behind the United States.

Due to substantial injection of funds into Japan's military, the SDFs have already constructed a set of advanced weaponry systems of considerable quantities and outstanding quality.

With such hefty military muscle, the ever-growing militarist tendency in Japan has already caused serious concerns among the country's Asian neighbours and throughout the international community.

The major announcement of passing the three war contingency bills will certainly fuel the development of the country's militarist tendency, said the article.

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