What does the Kishida administration think about national defense and security?

Geopolitically, national defense and security-related policies are as big a issue in Japan as the economy.
Policy decisions on these issues should not be made while worrying about critical SNS or some news.

Below is a selection of the situation in the neighboring countries in recent years.

  • Russia: Armed invasion of Ukraine and Northern Territories issue
  • China: Continuous intrusion into territorial waters of the Senkaku islands, military exercises with Russia, establishment of undeclared police stations overseas
  • North Korea: Provocative launching missiles
  • South Korea: Continued anti-Japanese policy, illegal occupation of Takeshima, rehashing of resolved issues
  • Taiwan: Continued political and military pressure from China over a territorial issue
  • China and South Korea: Continuous exploitation without permission of Japanese wagyu beef, Japanese grapes, and other products grown and farmed with great effort in Japan.

Currently, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has triggered a very active discussion on national security.
There are also some critical comments and articles about this national defense discussion by some media outlets and some celebrities.
It seems strange that, even though they are discussing Japan’s national defense and security, some Japanese political parties share the same opinion as Russia, China, North Korea, and South Korea.

The opposition parties are criticizing the current administration party for their diversity approach, but we think it is the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan(hereinafter called LDP) that actually has a diverse party membership.
In fact, we believe that prime minister Kishida is positioned closer to the liberal side of the LDP.
However, if prime minister Kishida is trying to make a compromise with South Korea and China without resolving the current issues just because they are neighboring countries, he is offering Japan territory and supporting Japan’s anti-Japanese policies.
Essentially, the prime minister himself should continue to make Japan’s claims clear to the world.

In addition, two of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are neighboring countries of Japan.
Russia invaded Ukraine and they are still attacking.
China has ignored the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding the South China Sea, and continues to escalate provocations to other countries in the East China Sea. There is also the issues of human rights and espionage.
However, the Japanese business community seems to value its ties to China most of all. Ultimately, they only make propaganda comments against China, but they are in fact providing large amounts of money to China and supporting its military buildup and human rights issues.

We think that prime minister Kishida of Japan, a neighboring country of China, should have proposed that each country to review its supply chain.

We also think that we need to accelerate the national defense discussion including constitutional reform, for the future of Japan.
However, people tend to think that the other person thinks the same way. Some people claim that Japan will be the country that starts the war.
There are also people who defend the attacking country, saying that they will be attacked because Japan has bases. If these people did not have a double standard, they would say that if Japan attacks another country, it is because the attacked country has bases, right?
Most people believe that doubling military spending, having an enemy base attack capability, and defining the Self-Defense Forces as an army are all for national defense and will not start a war from Japan.
We hope that the political party and administration elected in the elections will take a resolute stance, clarify milestones on this important issue, and continue the discussion.


Reference: Prime Minister’s Office of Japan(2023/01/05)
https://japan.kantei.go.jp/index.html

Reference: The Japan Agri News(2023/01/05)
ttp://english.agrinews.co.jp/?p=10057

Reference: The Japan Agri News(2023/01/05)
http://english.agrinews.co.jp/?p=6784

Reference: BBC NEWS(2022/12/30)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63395617

Reference: PERMANENT COURT OF ARBITRATION(2023/01/08)
https://pca-cpa.org/en/cases/7/


Thanks.
2023/01/09