[Epoch Times, July 15, 2021]On July 13, Japan released the 2021 defense white paper. The biggest focus of the outside world is the first mention of Taiwan in the white paper, and it continues to accuse the CCP of frequent provocations in the waters of the Diaoyu Islands. The cover of this year’s white paper is a samurai on horseback, which contrasts sharply with last year’s cherry blossoms on Mount Fuji, which is quite intriguing.
The CCP continues to increase its military provocations in the Taiwan Strait, and people from all walks of life are discussing whether the United States should change its vague strategy in the past. Japan, which was originally low-key, took the lead this year to declare that it will participate in the defense of Taiwan.
If the CCP really breaks through the first island chain, it cannot be satisfied with only occupying Taiwan. The Philippines and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan are the first chain of island chains. If the CCP wants to compete with the United States for the Pacific, it will inevitably expand north-south. What the CCP really pays attention to is not the Diaoyu Islands, which are of little value. The CCP’s coast guard ships frequently appeared on the Diaoyu Islands, demonstrating their next expansion intentions.
The situation in the Taiwan Strait continues to rise, and Japan’s worries have finally reached a critical point, and it has to abandon its low-key, openly expressing its intention to defend Taiwan. Japan’s attitude should have been approved by the United States in advance. No one should naively think that after the CCP seized Taiwan, it would continue to watch the US military continue to reinforce the bases in Japan and the Philippines. What kind of hegemony is that?
Japan has replaced the cover image of its defense white paper with a samurai, which is actually showing an attitude that Japan has to start preparing for a full-scale war, and it seems that it no longer counts on the CCP to abandon its struggle for hegemony. However, although the samurai in the picture mounts and prepares to fight, he has neither a spear nor a sword in his hand, nor a bow and arrow on his back. An unarmed samurai represents Japan’s attitude of serious preparation and defense, but it has no intention of seeking battle.
Even with reservations, Japan quickly completed its strategic change against the CCP in 2021. In the past, Japan was not only cautious about the Taiwan issue, but also kept a low profile towards the Chinese Communist regime, trying to avoid words and deeds that might stimulate the deterioration of relations. The outside world believes that Japan is worried about losing the Chinese market. In fact, Japan should avoid confrontation with the CCP.
The Japanese military can only defend itself and cannot go abroad to participate in military conflicts. This undoubtedly puts the Japanese Self-Defense Force at a tactical disadvantage. Although Japanese people’s aversion to the CCP continues to increase, their efforts to avoid confrontation and conflict have always been the mainstream of Japanese politics and public opinion.
The CCP’s concealment of the epidemic in 2020 should completely change Japan’s attitude. Although the Japanese government does not trust the Chinese Communist regime, it should not have thought that the Chinese Communist Party leaders really tried to seek hegemony by using the epidemic. Before the CCP recognized the human-to-human transmission of Wuhan pneumonia, Japan reported its first case from China on January 16; after the closure of Wuhan on January 23, Japan reported its second case on January 24. Japan, like most Western countries, believes that the CCP controls the information distributed by the World Health Organization to a certain extent, and the epidemic prevention work has been slow for several beats. Of course, after the CCP announced that Wuhan was closed, the epidemic prevention in all countries was late.
After Wuhan was closed, the Chinese military planes began to harass the Taiwan Strait. In April 2020, when the USS Roosevelt was withdrawn from Guam after the USS Roosevelt was infected, the CCP Liaoning suddenly crossed the Miyako Strait and entered the Pacific Ocean. The CCP’s posture for hegemony has been seen by Trump and Japan.
According to statistics from the white paper, from April to August 2020, the CCP’s coast guard boats appeared near the Diaoyu Islands (the Senkaku Islands) for 111 consecutive days; in 2020, the CCP’s coast guard boats appeared in 1,161 times and appeared in 333 days, also setting a record high. The Japanese are not unwise. The CCP’s provocation broke the illusion of peace and friendship between China and Japan. The Japanese Self-Defense Forces gradually cooperated with the U.S. forces to appear in every corner of the Indo-Pacific. Japan is well aware of the harm of military expansion, and the former Japanese militarism has caused huge disasters to all countries and Japan.
After the new US government came to power, it did not change its military oppressive strategy against the CCP. However, the CCP’s senior officials made serious misjudgments and publicly signaled a hegemony for the United States. The situation in the Taiwan Strait continued to rise. Japan finally made a fundamental change, deepened its cooperation with the United States in an all-round way, and gradually eliminated the CCP. After the outbreak of the 2020 epidemic, the Japanese government took the lead in funding to help Japanese companies withdraw from mainland China.
Today, Japan has sent a signal to prepare for war. Whether the warriors in the defense white paper will soon be equipped with weapons depends on whether the CCP wants to initiate another Sino-Japanese War. The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party did not know how powerful they were. The Ministry of National Defense of the Communist Party of China remained silent, but expressed opposition through the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. If the CCP goes to war, it is not just Japan, the United States, and NATO navies who have a common terminal for the Indo-Pacific cruise—Japan.
During the Anti-Japanese War, the CCP faked its anti-Japanese war and developed real development. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the CCP seized the Northeast and acquired a large amount of weapons and equipment left by the Japanese Kwantung Army from the former Soviet Union, thus having the real capital of the civil war. After the CCP seized power, Mao repeatedly thanked the Japanese invading China for saving the CCP’s life and making it bigger.
The CCP gave up war reparations in exchange for recognition by the Japanese government. Later CCP leaders desperately tried to obtain Japanese funds and technology, while at the same time stimulating anti-Japanese sentiment from time to time according to political needs. Now that the CCP no longer conceals its expansion ambitions, it is forcing Japan to end the era of suffocation. A new pattern in East Asia that the CCP can no longer control may soon emerge.
Editor in charge: Gao Yi
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