Japan and contempt for non-G7: Next Ukraine but not next Iraq, Libya, Vietnam, and Yemen
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan immediately let the “cat out of the bag” during his pro-G7 – and anti-China and anti-Russia mantra that knows no boundaries. He can’t wait – similar to other Japanese politicians in his administration in the area of foreign affairs – to lambast the usual nations to all and sundry.
Kishida said, “Ukraine may be the East Asia of tomorrow.”
This is ironic because it was Japanese imperialism that committed mass atrocities in East Asia. This was followed by America dropping two nuclear bombs on Japan, killing vast numbers of civilians during the Korean War, and utilizing Okinawa (Ryukyu) during its war against Vietnam – where the land of democracy (America) used Agent Orange and burnt civilians alive. Therefore, the two powers to bring death to foreign nations in East Asia – and to utilize East Asia and kill other Asian ethnic groups in major wars – happen to be America and Japan concerning events since the Meiji Restoration (1868).
The real “cat out of the bag” is how Kishida and G7 nations view the rest of the world. Hence, why does Kishida say, “Ukraine may be the East Asia of tomorrow.”
Why did Kishida evade Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Serbia (Kosovo), Syria, Vietnam, Yemen, and many others where America – and other G7 nations – have killed millions of people? Don’t civilians in these nations count because G7 nations (notably America, France, and the United Kingdom) did the killings in distant lands? Hence, good old-fashioned “elitism and superiority” persists in the worldview of America, Japan, and other G7 nations – who deem themselves to be exceptional and above the rule of law.
America was involved in Cuba (1961), Vietnam (1961-1963), Dominican Republic (1965), Grenada (1983), Panama (1989), First Gulf War (1990-1991), Somalia (1993), Haiti (1994), Bosnian War (1992-1995), Serbia (Kosovo 1999), Afghanistan (2001-2021), Second Gulf War (2003-2010), Libya (2011), Syria (2011 and continues), and others. Also, America killed vast numbers of people related to Operation Condor (supporting right-wing death squads in South America), the War on Terrorism (drones and destabilization), and involved in horrendous support mechanisms that killed millions (from supporting Indonesia killing over 1 million communists and leftists – to assisting Gulf powers in the ongoing war in Yemen via enormous military sales).
The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs – concerning the war on terror since September 11 – (Brown University – America) says, “Millions of people living in the war zones have also been displaced by war. The U.S. post-9/11 wars have forcibly displaced at least 38 million people in and from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, Libya, and Syria. This number exceeds the total displaced by every war since 1900, except World War II.”
Kishida – similar to the leaders of other G7 nations – seems fine if millions of people are killed by G7 nations directly, by proxy, or concerning the military arms that alter the wars on the ground.
Kishida said, “The situation around Japan is becoming increasingly severe with attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the East China Sea and South China Sea and the activation of North Korea’s nuclear and missile activities.”
Of course, Kishida ignores the role of America in the military arms race that is coercing China to increase its funding. Hence, America’s military budget will be over 850 billion dollars under President Joe Biden in 2023.
Thus, does America have military bases in Japan and South Korea (and other nations in Asia) aimed at China – or does China have military bases near the land of America? Equally, did China go to war on a grand scale or utilize proxies in Africa, Europe, West Asia, and South America – or did America?
In history, did China invade Japan (both nations share the same geopolitical space) or drop two nuclear bombs on this nation – or did America?
China boosted the arts, high culture, and philosophy in Japan – and helped Buddhism to spread throughout this country (Korea also helped to spread Buddhism in Japan). America in the nineteenth century brought gunboat diplomacy, dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan, carpet-bombed this country, and utilized Okinawa to kill Koreans and the Vietnamese – and brought Walt Disney.
Voice of America reports, “Kishida came to Washington after his government announced that Japan would double defense spending over the next five years, a sea change for a country that has been officially pacifist since its defeat in World War II.”
Japan’s pacifism didn’t stop America from utilizing Okinawa to kill other Asian ethnic groups. Also, it didn’t prevent America from utilizing the nuclear angle – which heightened military tensions with China and the former Soviet Union.
The Nautilus Institute says (concerning Japan’s tolerance of America’s nuclear angle), “The Nautilus Institute’s East Asia Nuclear Policy Project, a far-ranging project aimed at promoting open debate over the role of nuclear weapons in the Asia-Pacific region, has for the past year sponsored detailed research into the history of U.S. nuclear weapons practices in Japan. U.S. government documents recently declassified under the Freedom of Information Act and obtained through this research add substantial weight to previous assertions that the United States routinely brought nuclear weapons into Japan during the Cold War despite Japan’s non-nuclear policy. These documents also shed light on suspicions that Japanese government officials knowingly accepted these deployments. Perhaps most surprisingly, the declassified documents also reveal the previously unreported extent to which the United States also conducted nuclear war planning in Japan.”
Kishida said, “China needs to make a strategic decision that it will abide by the established international rules and that it cannot and will not change the international order in ways that are contrary to these rules.”
However, Kishida is fine with America – and G7 nations – altering international rules to support their endless wars, wars by proxy, and other geopolitical intrigues.
If Japan is sincere, it will follow the model of India. This concerns joining the non-aligned nations and not the containment policies of America.
Kishida plays with words because he wants to militarize despite the dire ratio of debt this nation holds. Japan needs closer ties with non-aligned nations, China, India, the Russian Federation (the former leader Shinzo Abe had cordial relations with Russia), ASEAN, and so forth.
Instead, Japan is playing into the hands of America – while pandering to nationalists at home – and this bodes ill for the people of Japan and Northeast Asia.
Outside of G7 nations, Japan is deemed via the lens of the whims of America – is this good enough?
Also, past deeds by America utilizing Japan to contain regional nations – and tolerating America using the nuclear angle in the Sea of Japan and other seas connected to Japan, generates enormous mistrust. Therefore, Kishida’s militarization plans – and the endless intrigues of America – will create a new arms race in Northeast Asia and lead to tensions reaching a boiling point.
Japan needs to step back from the real aims of Kishida and Washington – and Japan also needs to take a non-aligned approach while maintaining good relations with America.
It is time for China and Japan to reset their complementary factors – from culture to economic trade, science, and shared philosophies that naturally align.
https://nautilus.org/supporting-documents/japan-under-the-us-nuclear-umbrella/ – Japan under the United States nuclear umbrella – NAUTILUS INSTITUTE
https://apjjf.org/Jon-Mitchell/4308.html
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