KEY ISSUE IN UPCOMING LOWER HOUSE ELECTION: STRATEGY TO DEAL WITH CHINA’S EXPANSIONISM
“Abenomics”—Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s program aimed at rejuvenating Japan’s troubled economy—is being hotly discussed in rallies across Japan now that the December 14 upper house election has been announced. Needless to say, utmost efforts must be made to ensure our nation’s economic growth. However, I feel more than a little concerned about the alarming absence of debate on what represents another crucial election issue—Japan’s military defense capabilities. The general lack of awareness on this issue brings a chill to my spine, especially in view of the daring moves China has been making.
At the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit meeting held in Beijing last month, the confident presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping dwarfed an overawed President Obama. Clearly, Xi has just begun to take the initiative in permanently bolstering China’s military power in an effort to use its economic and financial power to eventually dominate the world—not just its neighbors.
At the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs held in Beijing November 28-29, Xi delivered a major address making one sense that the Chinese leader finally was indeed showing his true colors.
Xi’s address, delivered before all the members of the politburo, as well as the top echelon of the Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), was telecast by CCTV China Central News. Xi first pointed out that China’s foreign policy has developed smoothly in both theory and practice since the 18th National Congress, proudly noting: “We are building a new model of major-country relations.”
Declaring that China has formed such relations with the US, Xi observed: “…we should also recognize that the growing trend (in the international community) toward a multi-polar world will not change.”
Xi’s was a statement reflecting China’s self-confidence that the world order under which the US has long reigned as the only superpower is nearing its end, that this trend will not change, and that China is now a new superpower.
Xi noted that China has “…practiced a regional policy featuring amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness…” What he added further should better be construed as a statement with Japan very much in mind:
“We should fully recognize the uncertainty in our region of the world…and that the best opportunity for China in times of change will result from the steady (economic) development and buildup of our military power.”
Generous System of Tributary States?
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s resolute “active pacifism” towards China, including his posture concerning the disputed Senkaku Islands, obviously is seen as a major threat by Beijing and the source of its “uncertainty” in the region. Did Xi mean China is determined to counter Abe’s diplomatic tactics with economic and military power in order to accomplish its goals? Noting that China has “entered a crucial stage of achieving the great renewal of the Chinese nation,” Xi stressed that China will wield its diplomacy “as a major country.” Clarifying where China is headed, Xi added:“While we are committed to pursuing peaceful development, we will never relinquish our legitimate rights and interests, or allow China’s core interests to be undermined.” Put bluntly, Xi means that China will never compromise, demanding that other nations make the necessary concessions in case of international conflicts.
Xi was alternatively tough and conciliatory in his address. While baldly declaring that China “should firmly uphold (its) territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests and national unity, and properly handle territorial and island disputes,” he repeatedly referred to the importance of promoting “a regional policy featuring amity, sincerity, mutual benefits, and inclusiveness.”
Xi spoke as if China were leading a grand sphere of influence when he said: “We should increase China’s soft power, better communicate (our) message to the world…(and) promote relations in which all the nations of our region share a community of common destiny…”
Incidentally, a study on the tribute system China once imposed on its neighbors is said to have begun in China with the preset conclusion that the system was never a brutal rule by force but rather a gentle and benevolent scheme under which Chinese emperors awarded tributary states with monetary rewards worth several times more than the articles the emperors received. I wonder if the study’s purpose is to publicize China’s intention of dealing gently and benevolently with nations once they are incorporated into the Chinese sphere of influence.
The flowery words Xi emphasized—such as “win-win cooperation,” “amity,” “mutual benefit,” and “inclusiveness”—should all be regarded as expedients for realizing a great Chinese empire in the 21st century, described in his words as a “new model of major-country relations.”
According to Xi, the fundamental principles regulating such international relations are “non-interference” (with the internal and external affairs of other nations) and respect for “the independent choice of developmental path and social system by the people of other countries.” In short, Xi vows that China will resolutely reject any interference by other nations that cherish different values, such as the US.
The consistency of China’s communist administration is indeed formidable, its fundamental foreign policy having been unswervingly focused on its goals—almost to the point of admiration. Typical are Beijing’s claims and actions pertaining to Japan’s Senkaku Islands, which China asserts is one of its core interests.
Beijing first claimed sovereignty over the group of eight uninhabited islands in the East China Sea in 1971 when the United Nations body ECAFE (the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East) pointed to the possibility of a rich reservoir of national resources existing in the peripheral areas of the Senkakus. When Deng Xiaoping visited Japan in 1978 to exchange the instruments for ratification of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship, he told the press that China would not mind “shelving the Senkaku issue for ten years.” However, Japan and China never reached an agreement on this issue at the time. Fourteen years later, in 1992, China unilaterally enacted the “Law on Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone”—a domestic law specifying that the Senkakus belong to China.
China has since stood firm on its claim about the Senkakus—despite occasional protests by Japan and the huge ODA (Official Development Aid) that Tokyo extended in the spirit of friendship and goodwill as stipulated in the treaty restoring war-severed diplomatic relations. Japan’s entreaties have obviously fallen on deaf ears, failing to reach the hearts of the Chinese.
Enactment of National Defense Mobilization Law
Then in March 2010, China implemented the Seabird Protection Law, ostensively to restrict the rampant development of the islands along the continental coast, while also protecting the area’s ecological system and China’s maritime rights and interests. But China’s true aims are transparent; it is dead set on strengthening its position as a maritime power by centrally controlling these unmanned islands and the natural resources in their peripheral waters.
Only four months later, China enacted the National Defense Mobilization Law, as if to provide further proof of its true intentions. This new law calls on all Chinese, including those overseas with Chinese passports, to fulfill national defense duties when mobilization orders are issued in times of national crisis. This means that the estimated 700,000 Chinese nationals now living in Japan would be expected to rise up under orders from their communist government in the event of a conflict with Japan. That such a law as this exists is indeed a frightening thought.
Last month’s foreign affairs conference in Beijing is unmistakably a logical extension of such previous actions. The crucial point of Xi’s address was his proclamation that China is the world’s new superpower and that the world should understand and accommodate the Chinese dream of this renewal of a great people—a major event that will change the course of world history.
Under this grand strategy marked by naked Sinocentrism, Japan is looked on as China’s number one adversary. China’s hostile policy toward Japan is not merely aimed at wresting the Senkakus and Okinawa away from Japan. The whole policy is designed to defame Japan by utilizing historical issues such as “Nanjing” and the “comfort women,” with the ultimate aim of breaking our hearts and overpowering and subjugating us.
We should never for a moment forget that we have such a neighbor across the narrow strip of water that is the Sea of Japan, bearing in mind that the crucial issue of the coming election is how to deal effectively with China. At a time such as this, it is imperative that we have a healthy debate about Japan’s right to collective self-defense as well as the need to revise the constitution. To do otherwise would be highly irresponsible.
(Translated from “Renaissance Japan” column no. 634 in the December 11, 2014 issue of The Weekly Shincho)