Japan mimicking America and following the China containment policy
Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Japan is mimicking America to the extreme when it comes to Washington’s containment policy of China. Hence, the recent meetings between senior American and Japanese officials in Japan resulted in the same anti-China mantra.
Security talks in Tokyo between America and Japan merely confirm to China that both nations have ill intentions. This relates to the language and statements emanating from the meeting between the Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, the Foreign Minister of Japan Toshimitsu Motegi, United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken said, “We will push back if necessary, when China uses coercion or aggression to get its way.”
America and Japan in a joint statement said, “The United States and Japan acknowledged that China’s behavior, where inconsistent with the existing international order, presents political, economic, military and technological challenges.”
The statement continued, “The ministers are committed to opposing coercion and destabilizing behavior towards others in the region.”
Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, rebuked America and Japan for endlessly seeking to contain China. Zhao disdainfully said about Japan that this nation “willingly stoops to acting as a strategic vassal” of America.
Zhao continued and uttered the joint statement by America and Japan “maliciously attacks China’s foreign policy, flagrantly interferes in China’s domestic affairs and attempts to harm China’s interests.”
Japan needs to look at the past cultural and religious angle with China rather than following the geopolitical coattail of America. Hence, Japan needs a more nuanced approach towards China, just like South Korea adopts. However, it appears that the Japan Foreign Ministry can’t constrain itself under the leadership of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga when it comes to the anti-China mantra.
Overall, Japan needs to adopt a fresh approach to China based on mutual understanding and resolving issues diplomatically based on open channels between China and Japan. Similarly, China should adopt better territorial dispute mechanisms with Japan and other nations that fear China’s encroachment.
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