The Japanese Ministry of Defense just released its Defense White Paper 2014, further raising the clamor for militarization and worsening the sense of uncertainty in the region.
This year’s Japanese Defense White Paper has new features and implications. First, since this year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the self-defense forces, the White Paper shows an obvious attempt to review and preview the past and future 60 years. Second, this is the 40th Defense White Paper issued since Nakasone Yasuhiro published the first in 1970 as defense chief. So immediately following the “preface by the minister of self-defense”, this year’s White Paper includes a “review and preview” written by Nakasone Yasuhiro. Third, since the end of last year, the Shinzo Abe administration has formally set up the “National Security Council”, compiled the first “National Security Strategy”, and based on that, published the “Long-term Defense Program Guidelines” and “Mid-term Defense Program”, presenting an explicit roadmap for building Japan into a military superpower. Meanwhile, the Abe administration decided to conduct substantive revision of the “three principles on arms export” and draft the new “three principles on transfer of defense equipment and technology” in a bid to internationalize its defense industry. More crucially, the Abe administration passed in July a series of resolutions surrounding the practice of “right to collective self-defense”. Such political and institutional arrangements paved way for Japan’s march toward becoming a military superpower in terms of philosophy, guidelines, strategy, mid- and long-term plans and legislation.
On such a basis, the 2014 White Paper for the first time makes a comprehensive elaboration of the new blueprint for a military superpower, featuring systematic arrangements of facilities, equipment, personnel and operational command guidelines under the new regime. The new White Paper particularly highlighted Chinese military progress, politicizing alleged Chinese efforts to “change the status quo by force”, trumpeting “China threat”, and faking pretexts for building its “Dynamic Joint Defense Force”, deploying forces to southwestern islands, as well as forming its strategic containment of China in the east and south China seas and waters off Taiwan.
On the other hand, while emphasizing a worsening security environment by exaggerating Russian military moves, North Korean missile threat, tensions in the east and south China seas, as well as shrinking US financial support for overseas military operations and Chinese frustration of US “rebalancing” to the Asia-Pacific, the White Paper intends to find excuses for its emphasis on practicing “right to collective self-defense”, enhancing US-Japan military alliance, upgrading “security cooperation” with other countries, and highlighting Japan’s role in regional security.
According to government resolutions regarding “collective self-defense”, Japan will set out revising its security legislations next year, with the focus on legislation on the Self-Defense Forces. The aim is to compile a more complete system of security laws, and provide support for Abe’s expansionist military strategy. Since early 1990s when Japan sent troops overseas under its legislation on peace-keeping operations, and the making of military contingence laws under then prime minister Koizumi Junichiro, Japan has actually established a quasi war legislation regime. Abe successfully upgraded the self-defense department into a ministry during his first term of office as prime minister. By speeding up the systematic upgrade of security and defense establishments, the Abe administration is laying the legal groundwork for Japan’s turn into a military superpower and maneuvering an “institutional breakthrough” of the post-war international order.
“Institutionalization” has been Abe’s favored poly in his both terms of office. Such a trick has created troubles in domestic politics. But Abe has a clear roadmap for military expansion. Calling himself a “post-war leader”, Abe, along with like-minded politicians, is preoccupied with getting rid of the country’s disgraceful past and changing the post-war regime. He is bent on making “epoch-making breakthroughs” at significant anniversaries, and then trying to institutionalize them.
Under the pacifist constitution, Japan’s diplomatic options were limited to economic aid. Japanese “post-war leaders” have tried hard to overthrow the restraints on Japan’s military ambitions. Abe’s ideal of military expansion embodies such an orientation. The 2014 defense white paper epitomizes and reveals the expansionist inclination. The region and the entire world must stay vigilant to where Japan is headed to under such a regime.
Liu Junhong is a research fellow at the Chinese Institute of Contemporary International Relations.
