Although Japan is geographically located in the east, it is a state that acts together with Western actors due to its alliance relations, ideological positioning, cooperation framework, geostrategic and geoeconomic position and its place in the competitive conjuncture. As a matter of fact, this position causes Japan to compete with China and North Korea in the region. Along with all these, Japan constitutes the third pillar of the exercises held jointly with the United States (USA) and South Korea in the Asia-Pacific region against the North Korean threat. When the claims that these exercises also aim to surround China are evaluated, it can be deduced that Tokyo is a country with a Western perspective in terms of its foreign policy production process and security objectives.
In addition to all these, it can be said that Japan has recently started to move closer to the West, to follow a more proactive foreign policy, to increase its own security and military power, and to make moves that attach much more importance to its defense. Because, when the relations of Japan with the countries in the Asia-Pacific region as well as with the Western states and the security moves it has implemented since November 2022 are examined this situation can be better understood. For example, Japan’s entry into the AUKUS Pact in the Asia-Pacific region, created by the cooperation of the USA, the United Kingdom and Australia, came to the fore, and no negative statement was received from the Tokyo administration.[1] As a matter of fact, considering the structure of AUKUS, which registered the Western alliance in the region and deeply affected China, the direction of Japan can be understood much better.
On the other hand, Japan decided to develop a new fighter jet together with Italy and the United Kingdom. On December 9, 2022, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Italian Prime Minister Giogio Meloni and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made the announcement in a joint statement and said, “The program should expand interoperability with our partners in the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Europe, Asia-Pacific and globally.”[2] This shows that Japan has increased its military cooperation with the West.
It was also said that on December 16, 2022, Fumio Kishida’s cabinet would describe China as an “unprecedented competitor” in its new national security document. However, it is stated that this document will reveal Japan’s plans to acquire long-range missiles, including developing its own hypersonic weapons, as an example of upgrading its defense framework.[3] As a matter of fact, this development reveals both Japan’s defense development ideas and its Western orientation.
There are two more developments dated 16 December 2022 that can be read in the same context. The first is that Japan announced that it would double its military spending within five years, citing the threats posed by China and North Korea. As a matter of fact, Fumio Kishida said that Japan’s defense budget will increase to 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2027.[4]
Moreover, as regional tensions escalate and the Ukraine War raises concerns, Japan has announced that it will begin to build a $320 billion military build-up that will arm itself with missiles that can hit China and make it ready for a hot conflict.[5] This marks the most important revision of its security strategy since Japan adopted a pacifist constitution after the Second World War.
However, on December 18, 2022, Deputy Minister of Defense of Japan Toshiro Ino said that Japan strongly condemned the activities of North Korea.[6] At the same time, Japanese lawmakers began to put pressure on the government to close two Chinese outposts, which were said to be tracking anti-Chinese opponents in the country and were thought to have spying purposes.[7] As a matter of fact, this aforementioned situation alarmed the Tokyo administration. Therefore this situation is very important in terms of showing the response of the anti-Chinese idea within the country.
On the other hand, Japan adopted a plan to extend the exposure time of nuclear reactors, replace old ones, and build new ones, and stated that under the new policy, it would restart as many reactors as possible and maximize the use of existing reactors by increasing the exposure time of the old ones above the 60-year limit.[8] This proves the proactive policies followed by Tokyo.
Currently, Japan has announced a record amount of budget to increase its military capacity. With the budget approved by Fumio Kishida on December 23, 2022, Tokyo made a decision that increased its military and defense spending to 114.4 million yen, means approximately 863 billion dollars, for the next year.
It has been announced that this budget will be used to finance defense expenditures for the country’s military facilities, warships and other ships.[9] It is noteworthy that this budget is the highest defense budget in the history of Japan.
Ultimately, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s activities in the region, North Korea’s ballistic missile tests that did not decrease and increasing nuclear power greatly increased Japan’s security concerns and made Tokyo both to approach the West and to spend much more money on security and defense. It can be said that all those stiuations has led Japan to follow much more proactive structure.
In short, as the West, the USA and NATO’s activities in the region, the concerns created by Beijing and Pyongyang, and the West’s “Chinese threat” rhetoric continue, it can be predicted that the aforementioned process, which Japan started at the end of 2022, will continue in the same way in 2023, even more so.
[1] “Japan Joining Aukus: The ‘Logical Choice’, but Would it Be A Full Partner in the Alliance?, South China Morning Post, https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3200963/japan-joining-aukus-logical-choice-would-it-be-full-partner-alliance, (Date of Accession: 26.12.2022).
[2] “Japan, Italy, and the U.K. Are Teaming Up on a Secret New Fighter Jet”, Popular Mechanics, https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a42218929/japan-italy-uk-new-fighter-jet/, (Date of Accession: 26.12.2022).
[3] “Japan Calls China Unprecedented Challenge in Security Shift”, Yahoo, https://news.yahoo.com/japan-call-china-unprecedented-challenge-095006630.html, (Date of Accession: 26.12.2022).
[4] “Japan Defence: Chna Threat Prompts Plan to Double Military Spending”, BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64001554, (Date of Accession: 26.12.2022).
[5] “Pacifist Japan Unveilse Unprecedented $320bn Military Build-ıp”, Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/16/pacifist-japan-unveils-unprecedented-320bn-military-build-up, (Date of Accession: 26.12.2022).
[6] “Japan Protests N. Korea’s Latest Missile Launches”, News.com.au, https://www.news.com.au/national/japan-protests-n-koreas-latest-missile-launches/video/72c40174b38bd0dc5adab66e720f217d, (Date of Accession: 26.12.2022).
[7] “Japan Urged to Root Out Secret ‘Chinese Police Stations’ Amid Spying Concerns”, This Week in Asia, https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3204054/japan-urged-root-out-secret-chinese-police-stations-amid-spying-concerns, (Date of Accession: 26.12.2022).
[8] “Japan Adopts Plan to Maximize Nuclear Energy, in Major Shift”, AP News, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-japan-climate-and-environment-02d0b9dfecc8cdc197d217b3029c5898, (Date of Accession: 26.12.2022).
[9] “Japan Unveils Record Budget in Boost to Military Capacity”, CNA, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/japan-unveils-record-budget-boost-military-capacity-3164996, (Date of Accession: 26.12.2022).
