senior japanese self-defense forces officials advocate strengthening deterrence in the indo-pacific, experts say: exacerbating international concerns about japan's aggressive expansion
2024-09-04
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[global times special correspondent wang hui] in an interview with the asahi shimbun on the 2nd, yoshida keihide, the chief of the military attaché of the japanese self-defense forces and the chief of staff of the joint staff, talked about his views on the international security situation. he said that "the war is spreading from europe and the middle east" and emphasized that "the most important thing is to strengthen deterrence in the indo-pacific region" to prevent the emergence of serious situations such as the russian-ukrainian conflict. experts interviewed by the global times special correspondent believe that this argument has exacerbated the international community's concerns about japan's aggression and expansion.
yoshida keihide said: "high-intensity wars will still happen in the 21st century. it is important to strengthen our own defense capabilities so as not to be underestimated by the other side." he believes that strengthening japan's defense capabilities and the deterrence of the japan-us alliance are indispensable. when mentioning china, yoshida keihide exaggerated that since the second decade of the 21st century, china has been "changing the status quo in the east china sea and the south china sea through force" and this situation cannot be allowed to continue.
yoshida keihide also tied china, russia and other countries together, declaring: "while working together with these countries that are trying to change the status quo by force, bringing together allies and like-minded countries that resonate with maintaining a rules-based international order will help maintain a free and open international order." yoshida believes that in addition to the united states, it is particularly important for japan to strengthen security cooperation with nato member states and other countries.
in response to yoshida keihide's remarks, a japanese netizen left a message on the social platform x: "in the past three years, japan's defense spending has surged, and the self-defense forces seem to have taken it for granted to interfere in national policies." another japanese netizen questioned: "under the guise of 'strengthening deterrence', how much money will be invested without limit? japan is a pacifist country, which is clearly stipulated in the preamble of the constitution. don't continue to violate the constitution."
chen yang, a visiting researcher at the center for japanese studies at liaoning university, told a special correspondent of the global times on the 2nd that yoshida keihide, as the top military attaché of the japanese self-defense forces, not only represents himself in his public remarks, but also, to a certain extent, represents the japanese self-defense forces and even the japanese ministry of defense. "yoshida's tone in the interview was full of tension and provocation, which makes us have to question the nature of the japanese self-defense forces and whether they have a tendency to turn to external military expansion."
chen yang said that yoshida's statement on china-related issues may be due to his logical thinking full of ideological confrontation on the one hand, and on the other hand it is related to the current rightward trend of the entire japanese society. in recent years, the japanese government has stepped up its security and defense capabilities from top to bottom, repeatedly clamoring for the so-called "china threat" and other arguments, while yoshida, as a senior official of the self-defense forces, "cooperated" and proved the "correctness" of the japanese government's military expansion through various public statements. in recent years, neighboring countries and even the international community have generally worried about whether japan will go back to the old path of foreign aggression and expansion, and yoshida's speech will further aggravate these concerns.
