Japan's new security strategy "bold and nervy": Report
Dec 22, 2022
Tokyo [Japan], December 22 : Japan's new National Security Strategy (NSS), the first in nearly 10 years is, not only "bold and nervy but is full of determination to pre-empt enemy attacks by launching a counterstrike," according to a report in The Hong Kong Post.
Japan unveiled the new NSS strategy on December 17 just days after the country came out with a USD 315 billion budget for its armed forces.
The report also says that strategy means that Japan understands that "no move to counter threats from China will be successful unless it sheds its post-World War hesitancy and shreds its pacifist policy that has chained its armed forces for the past more than six decades".
Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said: "The NSS sets the fundamental principle of national security which is to achieve the security of Japan as well as peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and to contribute even more proactively in securing peace, stability, and prosperity of the international community as "Proactive Contributor to Peace" based on the principle of international cooperation".
Japan's leadership is worried about muscle flexing by China against Taiwan, says the report on the news website The Hong Kong Post.
"Tokyo fears that any attack on the self-governing island will hit peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the entire Indo-Pacific region with its significant impact on the sovereignty and integrity of the East Asian country," the website reported.
The country knows that the US will intervene in case of any attack on Taiwan. Strategic experts in Japan fear that in case of a war, Chinese forces may attack the US military bases in Okinawa or the Sakishima Islands, both of which are Japan's territories. Japan will then have to jump into the war to counter China's aggression.
Japan's newly launched National Security Strategy talks about enhancing "counterstrike capability" that will allow the East Asian country to "hit enemy bases and command-and-control nodes with longer-range standoff missiles," the The Hong Kong Post said citing the The Japan Times.
Japan's move seems to have has intimidated China, says the report citing China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin who was cited as saying, "Japan's new defence policy ignores facts, deviates from its commitment to China-Japan relations and the common understanding between the two countries, and groundlessly discredits China's defence building and normal military activities."
Japan is finding itself in the midst of the most severe and complex security environment since the end of WWII with mounting threats from China and North Korea.
Japan has responded with what they call a "major shift" in defence policy. The new strategy does away with decades of precedent to acquire counter-strike capabilities, with a special focus on a free and open Indo-Pacific (FOIP).
Japan will build a multilayered network among its allies and like-minded countries, expand it, and strengthen deterrence. Thus, while utilizing frameworks such as the Japan-US-ROK, and Japan-US-Australia, Japan will enhance security cooperation with Australia, India, the ROK, European countries, ASEAN countries, Canada, NATO, EU, and others, read the National Security Strategy of Japan statement.
